CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Hospital has become the first hospital in Cedar Rapids to offer a newly approved implantable device designed to protect patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
Dr. Talha Farid, a cardiac electrophysiologist at St. Luke’s, recently implanted the area’s first extravascular implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or EV-ICD, hospital officials said.
Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart unexpectedly stops beating, cutting off blood flow to the brain and other organs. Without immediate CPR or a shock from a defibrillator, it can be fatal…