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.