Trials Implantable Device To Manage Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms
October 10th, 2008 | by admin |Northwestern Memorial’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is> Heart
Many heart failure patients take a combination of drugs to treat heart failure symptoms such as shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, however they do not address remodeling which is the underlying cause. “The goal of the study is to return the ventricle to a normal shape, decrease heart failure symptoms and prevent the heart from further deterioration,” said Charles Davidson, MD, principle investigator for the study, chief of the cardiac catheterization lab at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and professor of medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
The study device, developed and manufactured by CardioKinetix of Menlo Park, California, resembles an upside down parachute, is implanted in the left ventricle using a catheter which is inserted via a tube in the participant’s leg artery. This may eliminate the need for open-heart surgery and general anesthesia and may also allow for faster recovery times.
Congestive heart failure affects approximately 5.3 million people in the United States. Symptoms of heart failure diminish an individual’s quality of life. “Our hope is that the device is may be able to improve each patient’s quality of life and longevity,” commented Dr. Davidson.
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