Researchers report that a wireless implanted device monitors fluid build-up in the lungs of heart failure patients and alerts doctors when intervention is needed.
As a result, the device reduces hospitalizations and improves quality of life for these patients, they added.
"It is the build-up of fluid pressure in the lungs that causes symptoms such a shortness of breath and leads to fluid leaking into the lung, which is the major cause of hospitalization in heart failure patients," explained study author Dr. William T. Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.
By monitoring the fluid pressure in the lungs, the doctor can adjust the patient's medication to bring the pressure levels down and keep the patient out of the hospital, he noted.
"This promises to revolutionize the way we manage patients who have moderate or severe heart failure," Abraham said. "Prior to this, the tools that we could use to evaluate how heart failure patients were doing were not very revealing and so we have failed to keep patients out of the hospital."
The report is published in the Feb. 9 online edition of The Lancet.
Source: Bloomberg
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Showing posts with label Cardio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cardio. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Medtronic receive approval for first MRI compatible pacemaker
Medtronic announced on Tuesday that the FDA have approved its Revo MRI™ SureScan® pacing system, the first and only pacemaker in the U.S. specifically designed for use in an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment and approved as MR-Conditional. Shipments of Revo MRI will begin immediately.
Until now, MRI procedures had been contraindicated for patients with implanted pacemakers due to the potential for serious adverse events. Each year, an estimated 200,000 pacemaker patients in the United States have to forgo MRI scans, which are critical for making a wide range of health diagnoses.
Until now, MRI procedures had been contraindicated for patients with implanted pacemakers due to the potential for serious adverse events. Each year, an estimated 200,000 pacemaker patients in the United States have to forgo MRI scans, which are critical for making a wide range of health diagnoses.
“The new Revo MRI pacemaker is a major technological breakthrough for patients who need access to MRI,” said Dr. J. Rod Gimbel of Cardiology Associates of East Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. “Providing pacemaker patients with access to MRI allows detection and treatment of serious medical conditions such as stroke, cancer, and a wide variety of important neurologic and orthopedic conditions.”
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