In 2007, Naperville resident Gerry Glab was having trouble just taking a shower, due to his worsening congestive heart failure.
“When I would have an attack, I’d feel like I was drowning,” Glab said.
And, the episodes were becoming more frequent. Now, thanks to a newly approved technology, the 81-year-old retiree is back to a favorite activity he thought was in his rearview mirror – fishing. In December 2014, he went fishing for redfish in Louisiana with his son.
When someone suffers from “heart failure” their heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. Blood pressure in the heart is also elevated. Shortness of breath, fatigue and swelling are among the symptoms. Hospitalizations for heart failure are usually triggered by an episode of worsening symptoms referred to as decompensation. Subsequent episodes and hospital readmissions are common.
“Every time a patient enters a state of heart failure decompensation there is permanent damage, and as the number of these episodes goes up so does the mortality rate,” said Maria Rosa Costanzo, MD, Medical Director of the Edward Hospital Center for Advanced Heart Failure and cardiologist with the Midwest Heart-Advocate Medical Group.
Glab’s marked improvement resulted from his 2008 enrollment as a research subject in a clinical trial at Edward Hospital. It was the CHAMPION clinical trial of the CardioMEMS HF System, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2014.
Glab was implanted with the system’s heart failure sensor at Edward in March 2008. The catheter-based procedure involved placing the miniaturized, wireless monitor in one of his pulmonary arteries. Data about his heart failure status is transmitted directly from the monitor to a healthcare provider via a secure website. The clinician watches for a rise in the pulmonary artery pressure, one of the earliest and key indicators of worsening heart failure.
“Soon after the device was implanted, my health improved greatly,” said Glab. “I haven’t had an attack since then.”
Glab says his medications were modified during the trial, and he was advised about changes to make to his liquid intake and salt consumption.
“The study was successful because we could advise the study investigators about fine tuning a patient’s treatment based on the pressure numbers, whether or not they had symptoms. Pressures in the heart often rise three or four weeks before the onset of symptoms requiring hospitalization,” said Dr. Costanzo, who was the principal investigator for the study’s Edward site.
The CHAMPION study focused on a subgroup of patients with heart failure categorized as NYHA Class III heart failure. These people have such severe heart failure that they’re symptomatic during routine daily activities. They represent about 1.4 million of the more than 5 million Americans who have heart failure, but account for about half of the hospitalizations for the condition.
When used by physicians to manage heart failure, the system is now the only FDA-approved heart monitoring device proven to significantly reduce hospital admissions – by up to 37 percent according to the CHAMPION study.
Edward is the only Chicago area hospital the manufacturer has chosen for the gradual CardioMEMS system roll-out. This includes post-approval data gathering and analysis, and a look at which treatment changes were the most beneficial. Edward expects to make the CardioMEMS sensors available to its heart failure patients in March.
“I believe this is a landmark discovery that changes the way we will treat heart failure,” said Dr. Costanzo. “For the appropriate patients it can mean fewer hospitalizations, a better quality of life and a lower mortality rate.”
For more information about cardiac care at Edward Hospital, visit www.edward.org/heart.
Submitted by Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare
