PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Heart failure is the leading cause of death in the United states, beating all cancers combined. Treating it costs more than $30 billion a year. Typical treatments include medications and surgery, and for the very worst cases, a heart transplant. For those people whose medications are not helping but they’re not quite ready for a transplant, there’s new hope – a one to two hour procedure that could help get your heart back in shape.
Blockages, high blood pressure, heart attack, coronary artery disease – six and a half million people are suffering from some form of heart failure.
“The symptoms that patients are mostly going to have is shortness of breath,” explains Advanced Heart Failure Cardiologist at Allegheny Health Network, Matthew Lander, MD.
But that can quickly turn into something more serious.
Dr. Lander further explains, “Probably 50 percent of patients that have heart failure are going to pass away from heart failure within five years.”
Dr. Lander is working with teams around the world to study a first-of-its-kind minimally invasive treatment option for heart failure. The AccuCinch Ventricular Restoration System aims to reduce the size of the heart’s left ventricle.
“It’s a catheter-based device that’s released into the left side of the heart,” says Dr. Lander
A flexible implant is attached to the interior of the left ventricular wall and then cinched, reducing the size of the left ventricle.
Dr. Lander adds, “The idea is that the tension and the wall stress in the heart is reduced and that this can lead to improvement in symptoms.”
Early clinical data suggests it could be a good option for people who are not responding to medications, but who don’t yet need a heart transplant.
“There’s, potentially, millions of patients still in that gap that need something, and this is something that can really fill that gap for some patients,” Dr. Lander expresses.
AccuCinch is currently in clinical trials in 80 heart centers around the world and is a viable option when existing therapies like lifestyle changes, medications and pacemakers are no longer able to manage the symptoms of heart failure. They hope the FDA will approve it in the next one to two years.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Kirk Manson, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Source:
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/heart_failure.htm
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: ACCUCINCH HEALS HEARTS
REPORT: MB #5315
BACKGROUND: Heart failure is a medical condition that occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood effectively, leading to inadequate circulation of blood to meet the body’s needs. It is a chronic and progressive condition that can affect the heart’s ability to fill with blood or to pump blood sufficiently. Heart failure can result from various underlying conditions that weaken or damage the heart muscle. According to the American Heart Association, heart failure/cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming almost 930,000 lives in 2020. There are two types of heart failures: systolic heart failure and diastolic heart failure. Heart failure can be caused by a number of things, including: coronary heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, or valve disorders.
(Sources: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373142
https://professional.heart.org/en/science-news/heart-disease-and-stroke-statistics-2023-update
DIAGNOSING: There are quite a few signs and symptoms to pay attention to when it comes to heart failure. Those symptoms are: shortness of breath (especially when lying down), fatigue, swelling in limbs, irregular heartbeat, wheezing, coughing up pink mucous or spots of blood, swelling in abdomen, nausea, and/or chest pain. Doctors can diagnose heart failure in different ways: blood tests, chest X-rays, ECGs or EKGs, echocardiograms, ejection fractions, exercise or stress tests, CT scans, cardiac MRIs, coronary angiograms, and/or myocardial biopsies.
(Sources: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373142
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373148)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: Traditional ways to treat heart failure are medications like ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, or diuretics, lifestyle changes such as exercising more, eating healthier, and avoiding smoking and alcohol, implantable devices like pacemakers, and in severe cases, transplant surgery. The newest treatment for heart failure is The AccuCinch Ventricular Restoration System. According to Ancora Heart, AccuCinch is a minimally-invasive procedure that treats the left ventricle. “During a minimally-invasive, catheter-based procedure, a flexible implant is attached to the inner wall of your heart’s left ventricle and then cinched. The implant is intended to reduce the size of your left ventricle and support and strengthen the wall of your heart.”
(Sources: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373148
https://www.ancoraheart.com/patients/#:~:text=HOW%20ACCUCINCH%20WORKS,the%20wall%20of%20your%20heart.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sarafina Brooks James
(412) 609-2902
Sarafina.brooks@highmarkhealth.org
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
