Guidant defibrillators recalled

            ROCKVILLE, MD - MedPage Today reported Guidant recalled 73,000 implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators ( CRT -Ds) due to a shortened battery life defect that, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated. In a product advisory to physicians, Guidant said recalled devices have faulty capacitors, which caused rapid depletion of batteries. Guidant was bought by Boston Scientific a year ago. In some devices, the time between elective replacement indicator and end of life was under three months instead of more than two years, Guidant added - 19 of the 73,000 devices have been "confirmed to have accelerated battery depletion, which could have resulted in shortened elective replacement indicator to end-of-life time." Guidant said there were no patient deaths or serious injuries because of the device defects. Recalled devices include Contak Renewal 3 HE CRT -Ds (Models H177 and H179); Contak Renewal 3 CRT -Ds (Models H170 and H175); Vitality 2 DR ICDs (T165); Vitality 2 VR ICDs (T175); Vitality AVT ICDs (A155); Vitality DS DR ICDs (T125), and Vitality EL DR ICDs (T135).