[The wearable cardioverter defibrillator]

Sudden cardiac death affects close to half a million people a year in Europe and accounts for 50 % of cardiovascular deaths. Unfortunately, only a minority of these events occur in front of witnesses, which reduces the chances of survival. In order to limit this risk, an internal automatic defibrillator can be implanted in patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. However, there are circumstances when the patient is at risk of sudden cardiac death and this device cannot be implanted. In order to limit this risk, certain patients can be equipped with a wearable defibrillator.