Patent ID: 8594790

Claim:
A medical device for monitoring heart failure in a patient, the medical device comprising: an input circuit that receives a pressure signal representative of pressures sensed within a ventricle as a function of time; and a processor that derives from the pressure signal a ventricular pressure index for a ventricular contraction based upon pressures in the ventricle and provides an output based upon the ventricular pressure index, wherein said ventricular pressure index corresponds to one of: a heart failure status or a changing heart failure status; wherein, for the ventricular contraction, the processor determines from the pressure signal a diastolic pressure in the ventricle and a systolic pressure in the ventricle and a diastolic pressure in a vessel into which the ventricle pumps blood; and wherein the processor determines the ventricular pressure index for a ventricular contraction as a function of the systolic pressure in the ventricle, the diastolic pressure in the ventricle, and the diastolic pressure in the blood vessel.