University Hospital Surgeons first in Tristate to Implant Guidant Device

Breakthrough technology treats heart failure

Contact: Erika Taylor Turan (513) 585-7200
Date: 09/21/2000

Cincinnati -- As part of a clinical trial, physicians at The University Hospital became the first in the region to implant the Guidant Contak pacemaker device to treat heart failure yesterday.

The Guidant Contak is a quarter-sized device implanted just beneath the skin near the shoulder. The procedure can be done on an outpatient basis, and takes from one to several hours to perform.

The device works by electronically synchronizing the heart beat of the right and left ventricles, helping the heart's pumping chambers to get blood out to the rest of the body, instead of leaving it uselessly in the heart.

In clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe, the Guidant device and others like it have found stunning success, with patients able to go from barely being able to walk to the mailbox to biking 10 miles a day within a few months of the implant.

Heart failure is the inability of the heart to sufficiently pump enough blood to feed other organs. It is the leading cause of hospitalization for people over 65 in the U.S., and five million Americans are afflicted by heart failure.

Until recently, heart transplant and pharmaceutical treatment had been the only way to treat these patients. But because there aren't enough human hearts for patients needing transplants, scientists have started to look for alternatives.

"This device represents a quantum leap in the way we treat heart failure patients. It means more options, a return to health and a chance to treat many more patients," says Lynne Wagoner, M.D., co-director of the Heart Failure Treatment Center at The University Hospital.

The surgery was performed by Abdul Haji, M.D., an electrophysiologist at The University Hospital. The patient is Jim Caughlan, a 51-year-old school teacher from Waverly, Ohio whose interests include writing music and playing multiple instruments.

The Health Alliance is an integrated health care delivery system that 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. </font></p>