The results are promising. But why has this treatment gotten such little traction in Brazil?
The S‑ICD uses another strategy, however. The generator is positioned in the left flank under the latissimus dorsi or serratus muscles. The lead travels through the subcutaneous tissue to the sternum and rises parallel to this bone, usually along the left side. The idea is that the circuit transmitting the defibrillation current is composed of a lead located next to the sternum , and the generator stays adjacent to the free wall of the left ventricle .
Since the S‑ICD was released in Brazil in 2016, a little more than 300 devices of this type have been implanted. Research, such as studies, suggests the noninferiority of the S‑ICD, compared with the TV‑ICD. However, a critique of these studies is that the patient populations evaluated were selected based on certain criteria, and therefore the groups were significantly different from those found in the usual field of candidates for ICD implantation .