A Personal Ambulance in His Chest

John Reiner of Edwardsville, Ill., realizes now that he had his first heart attack before 1999 and did not even know it. "They had to shock me out of it," says Reiner recalling his second heart attack in 1999. It was the results from Reiner''s second heart attack that showed he had severe damage to the left ventricle of his heart.

After a persistent irregular heartbeat, Reiner was referred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where he was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia, a very painful, rapid heartbeat that can lead to sudden cardiac death. "My heart was beating like it was out of control," Reiner recalls.

Reiner went to Dr. Jane Chen, MD, for tests to determine if he was a candidate for an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that detects arrhythmias and attempts to override the electrical system of the heart and bring it back to normal.

"The ventricle, which is the bottom part of the heart, is the chamber responsible for pumping blood to the rest of the body and has a normal heart rate of between 70 to 80 beats per minute," says Dr. Chen. "Ventricular tachycardia is an electrical abnormality in the ventricle where the heart rate can beat up to 400 to 600 beats per minute resulting in sudden cardiac death."

Reiner was an ideal candidate for the ICD due to his frequent arrhythmias and his high risk for sudden cardiac death. In March 2001, Dr. Chen implanted the ICD in Reiner. Reiner describes the ICD as a "life insurance policy in your chest."

Dr. Chen agrees. "Having an ICD is almost like carrying around an ambulance," Chen says.

Reiner''s ICD needs to be checked every six months, and he has resumed his normal life of gardening, exercising and walking for exercise.

"I think Mr. Reiner is doing great given the heart condition he is living with," says Dr. Chen.

"The care I''ve had here at Barnes-Jewish Hospital has been exceptional, there was enormous attention to detail. I wouldn''t consider going anywhere else," says Reiner.