New Implanted Device To Monitor Heart Failure Patients At Home

Contact: Pat Samson (513) 585-7200
Date: 11/05/99

Physicians at The University Hospital have successfully implanted a new device to track the condition of heart failure patients while at home or at work. The device, named the Chronicle Implantable Hemodynamic Monitor is made by Medtronic, Inc. the world's leading medical technology company. The University Hospital is one of only five centers to begin the study of this device in the United States. Medtronic, Inc. is sponsoring the multicenter trial led by a group of physicians including William T. Abraham, M.D., of The University Hospital, to determine the safety and effectiveness of this device. Two area patients with heart failure received the devices in operations performed at The University Hospital by Richard Henthorn, M.D., electrophysiologist, on Wednesday, November 3, 1999. After being implanted under the skin of the chest of heart failure patients, the small device, which is similar in size to a small pacemaker, will measure the pressures in patients' hearts to determine how the heart is functioning. It will also track activity levels and provide information on the fluid status of the patient. This data can then tracked by the clinical team who can make adjustments to the patients' medications and therapies. Remote acquisition of this information over the telephone lines will be available in January 2000. "We are very excited about participating in this trial, since we will be able to quickly see how the patient responds to changes in activity, medications, or other conditions," says Robin Trupp, R.N., heart failure study coordinator. "It will provide information that up to now has only been available while the patient was hospitalized. We hope this device will reduce the need for hospitalizations and improve the quality of life for heart failure patients." Approximately 5 million people in the United States suffer from heart failure and approximately 500,000 cases are diagnosed in the U.S. every year. The Health Alliance is an integrated health care delivery system which includes The Christ Hospital, The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital, and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care.