What is a Defibrillator?: A Cardiologist's Guide for Patients and Care Providers

A defibrillator implant is a small device surgically implanted in the chest to maintain the heart’s electric rhythm. The surgery is very common: over 130,000 Americans receive a defibrillator implant every year. If you or a loved one requires a defibrillator implant, you’ll undoubtedly have many questions—questions that can’t always be adequately explained in a forty-five minute doctor’s appointment. Clinical cardiac electrophysiology specialist Jeffrey L. Williams, MD, MS, FACC, FHRS, provides a complete, easy-to-understand guide to defibrillator implantation. The author of What Is a Pacemaker?, Dr. Williams begins with an explanation of how defibrillators work and the conditions they treat. Williams then discusses how doctors determine whether patients are good candidates for defibrillators and provides an overview of the implantation process. Potential complications both before and after defibrillator implantation are discussed, as is surgical recovery and follow-up treatment. For readers having difficulty with medical terminology, Dr. Williams offers a helpful glossary at the back of the book. Patients, caregivers, and family members alike will benefit from Dr. Williams’s straightforward explanations. If you’re a candidate for defibrillator implantation, this book can help you approach surgery with a full understanding of the procedure and what it means to your quality of life.

Board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, Jeffrey L. Williams, MD, MS, FACC, FHRS, serves as the medical director of electrophysiology at The Good Samaritan Hospital. Dr. Williams pursued a double major in biomedical and electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University before earning his master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was awarded a Keck Fellowship for graduate studies. He earned his medical degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia and completed five years of fellowship training in cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Williams's knowledge and background in cardiology and engineering have earned him accolades within academic and clinical settings, including awards from the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He directs the only community hospital-based heart rhythm center in the US to have published outcomes for defibrillator and pacemaker implantations. He was elected Governor of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (2016-2019).