Cincinnati--William T. Abraham, MD, associate professor of
cardiology at University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine,
Department of Internal Medicine, and director of the UC's heart failure
and transplantation program, is the principal investigator of the
"Multicenter InSync Randomized Clinical Evaluation" of cardiac
resynchronization therapy for heart failure. The InSync pacemaker
synchronizes both the right and left sides of the heart, as well as its
upper and lower chambers.
"We hope patients who receive the
device will experience relief of their heart failure symptoms so that
they can avoid receiving a heart transplant," says Abraham. Traditional
pacemakers are implanted for slow heart rhythms. The InSync pacemaker
will be used for heart failure patients who may not necessarily have a
slow heart rhythm, but whose heart is so weak that it cannot maintain
an adequate circulation of blood throughout the body.
"Typical
pacemakers correct a slow heart rhythm by stimulating one or two heart
chambers. This new device stimulates and resynchronizes three chambers
to improve blood circulation," says Wesby Fisher, MD, assistant
professor of cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the
UC College of Medicine, and co-investigator of the study. According to
Fisher, implanting an InSync pacemaker is a safer, less invasive
procedure than a traditional biventricular pacemaker because the device
is installed above the breast bone, without opening the chest cavity.
The
product is manufactured by Medtronic., Inc., one of the worldıs leading
medical technology company specializing in implantable and
interventional therapies. Medtronic is sponsoring the multicenter trial
to determine the safety and effectiveness of the InSync device. Early
clinical results of European studies of patients receiving the device
are promising.
Congestive heart failure is the leading cause of
hospitalization in patients over age 65. Approximately 5 million people
in the U.S. suffer from heart failure and approximately 500,000 new
cases are diagnosed in this country every year. For more information,
e-mail william.abraham@uc.edu or e-mail wesby.fisher@uc.edu.