Investigators at UCSF implanted the first such device in the United States in 1996 and continue to lead research and development of implantable technology to fix hearts in which the lower chambers, the ventricles, don't pump together, as they should. The pacemaker-like device, works to resynchronize the left and right ventricles. The result is that the heart's pumping ability is stronger, according to Dr. Leslie Saxon and Dr. Teresa De Marco, cardiologists at UCSF Medical Center and co-investigators in a nationwide, randomized study to evaluate the device. Saxon, who presented findings at the American College of Cardiology meeting in March, said preliminary data indicate that this technology can not only resynchronize the heart, but also support slow heart beats, detect abnormal beats before they become a significant problem, help heart failure physicians manage medications and even prevent sudden death. In an outpatient procedure, the device is placed under the skin near the shoulder.
Physicians insert three electricity-delivering wires into a vein near the collarbone.
Two wires are guided to the right ventricle of the heart, just as in a pacemaker implantation. The third wire, the new innovation, goes to the left ventricle and helps the two ventricles beat together. Heart failure is different from a heart attack. Deprived of oxygen, patients with failing hearts often feel light-headed or faint and ultimately find it difficult to walk even a short distance. Only half of patients with mild to moderate heart failure survive for five years and only half of patients with severe failure survive for one year, she said, adding that, after medications have failed, their only option is to wait for a transplant.