KATHMANDU: Former Crown Prince Paras Shah, who suffers from heart condition and survived a massive cardiac arrest two years ago, has been admitted to the Thapathali-based Norvic International Hospital on Sunday. An Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD), a special device powered by battery that helps treat irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias, was successfully placed in his heart after an invasive procedure at the hospital's cath lab. Dr Bharat Rawat and Dr Sujeev Raj Bhandari at the hospital carried out the procedure. The ICD is implanted in people with heart complications and who are at high risk of sudden cardiac death, according to medical literature. Shah will be kept at the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) of the hospital for 24 hours, according to a hospital source. He shall remain in the hospital for at least two more days and the doctors will decide whether to discharge him after assessing his condition. Shah was taken to the hospital this noon after many of his body parametres related to blood circulation and heart, including heart beat,  constantly fluctuated for some days. He was admitted to the hospital at around 12:40 pm, and the procedure to implant the ICD began at around 5:30 pm, according  a hospital source. He was taken to the CCU from the cath lab after placing the device in his heart at around 7 pm. Many members and relatives of the former royal family, including former Queen Komal, and Shah's friends visited the hospital earlier today, while former King Gyanendra and Paras Shah's wife Himani went to the hospital later in the evening. In earlier 2013, he survived a massive cardiac arrest, believably after a drug overdose. He was kept at the Samitivej Hospital in a comatose stage for weeks, and was discharged after 38 days of admission. The doctors in Thailand had suggested Shah to implant the ICD then. Shah suffered blockage of both right and left coronary arteries and underwent stent implantation as well as coronary angioplasty in the past. Shah, who earned a bad name for his waywardness in his youth, had left for Singapore four years ago, for a self-imposed exile -- reportedly after his relation with his father Gyanendra, the former King, and wife Himani, the former Crown Princess, soured. He later moved to Thailand where he was arrested by law enforcement agencies several times on charge of breaching the Thai laws.   He was arrested and jailed on charge of possessing marijuana in Thailand earlier this year. However, a local court in March ordered the Thai authorities to release him after the Embassy of Nepal in Bangkok acknowledged in writing that Shah was Nepal's former crown prince. The order allowed him to face trial from outside the jail. Shah, however, was deported to Nepal in the first week of April after it was discovered that his passport had expired. (By Keshav P. Koirala) What is Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator

An Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) is a device that detects any life-threatening, rapid heartbeat.

If such a heartbeat, called an arrhythmia, occurs, the ICD quickly sends an electrical shock to the heart to change the rhythm back to normal.

This is called defibrillation.

(Source: NIH, MedlinePlus)