AHA Coding Clinic® for ICD-9 - 1987 September - October

Implantation of Automatic Ventricular Defibrillator, 37.94

The automatic ventricular defibrillator is not a cardiac pacemaker. Rather, it is designed to terminate malignant-type arrhythmias by depolarization of the entire myocardium. Implantation of an automatic ventricular defibrillator, 37.94, is often reserved for those patients who have survived two episodes of cardiac arrest not associated with acute myocardial infarction and at least one episode of cardiac arrest following what was presumed to be effective therapy for controlling ventricular fibrillation. The design of the automatic defibrillator has the capacity for a certain number of shocks before depletion of the battery source (for example, 100 shocks). Implantation of the...

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