Wireless Device Enables First Major Breakthrough in Heart Failure Management in More than a Decade

A clinical trial being conducted at multiple sites around the nation, including at the Ohio State Medical Center, has found that implanting a wireless device in patients with moderate heart failure results in significant reductions in hospitalizations and re-admissions.  Dr. William Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center is the study’s national co-principal investigator, along with Dr. Philip Adamson, director of the Heart Failure Institute, Oklahoma Heart Institute.
In the study, a wireless device was implanted in each patient’s pulmonary artery using a simple, catheter-based procedure. Real-time pulmonary artery pressure was then measured and transmitted by radiofrequency to a secure Web site, where it was available for review by implanting physicians. The data were also available to physicians on a handheld mobile device, such as a PDA, any time around the clock.

Researchers found that the wireless monitor resulted in reductions in pulmonary artery pressures, increases in days alive and out of the hospital, and improved quality of life. 
“For the first time, the device allows us to directly manage a patient’s pulmonary pressures, rather than managing symptoms or weight gain,” says Abraham.

The study represents the first major breakthrough in heart failure management in the past decade. 

For more on the study, see the article in HealthDay by clicking here.