Pacemaker vs. ICD: Understanding the Differences

Both pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are used to treat heart irregularities in patients. While they are similar in some ways, there are also differences between them.

Both Are Internal

• Both pacemakers and ICDs are surgically implanted inside patients.

Monitoring

• Both pacemakers and ICDs contain components that monitor the heart to detect irregularities in heartbeat.

Electricity

• Both pacemakers and ICDs use electricity to maintain heartbeat regularity.

Complexity

• ICDs are more complex devices than pacemakers, which are relatively simple.

Strength of Electricity

• Although both pacemakers and ICDs use electrical impulses to maintain heartbeat regularity, an ICD is capable of delivering much more powerful shocks than a pacemaker.

Heart Attacks

• In case of a heart attack, an ICD is capable of delivering large shocks that can help to keep a patient alive. Although a pacemaker can help to reduce the likelihood of a heart attack, it is not going to save a patient from a heart attack already in progress.