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Nature and determinants of skin "burns" after transthoracic cardioversion
L A Pagan-Carlo1, M S Stone, R E Kerber
1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Hospital, Iowa City 52242, USA.
The American Journal of Cardiology
|March 1, 1997
Abstract:
Skin biopsies obtained 24 hours after elective cardioversion of 30 patients showed variable epidermal necrosis and upper dermal perivascular inflammation, most noticeably in patients receiving high individual peak (> or = 300 J) and cumulative (> or = 350 J) shock energies. Thus, damped sine wave shocks cause skin injury--first degree burns--the severity of which is a function of peak and cumulative shock energy.