The Sarah Bush Lincoln Cardiology team successfully performed its first CardioMEMS implantation recently.
The CardioMEMS is a remote monitoring system that features an implantable sensor, which is placed in the pulmonary artery during a right heart catheterization. The sensor allows for advanced monitoring in people with heart failure and tracks changes in their pulmonary artery pressure, which is an early indicator of the onset of worsening heart failure. The sensor also measures a person’s heart rate.
People who have a sensor implanted are monitored by the staff at The Heart Center, and the sensor provides real-time notifications of changes in someone’s pulmonary artery pressure and fluid volume in their body. The ability to recognize early signs of worsening heart failure gives the staff the opportunity to adjust a person’s medications before the symptoms impact their quality of life and can help prevent hospitalization.
Interventional Cardiologist Dean Katsamakis, DO, performed the first procedure at SBL and said it’s exceptional that SBL offers this critical procedure. “We strive to provide the best care for everyone, and the success of this first CardioMEMS implantation is invigorating,” he said. “It’s important that we provide life-changing procedures like this as an option for people in our community.”
The CardioMEMS system provides people with a heightened awareness of the factors affecting their health. It has been proven to improve people’s quality of life, reduce the number of heart failure deaths and reduce the number of heart failure hospitalizations.
The system is indicated for people with: New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class 2 or Class 3 heart failure; and one heart failure hospitalization in the past 12 months; and/or elevated natriuretic peptides.
Traditionally, care teams have relied on physical signs, such as a person’s weight, blood pressure or other symptoms, to detect worsening heart failure. With a remote monitoring platform like CardioMEMS, SBL can provide the most progressive, timely care to patients with heart failure.
For more information, contact The Heart Center at SBL at 217-238-4960.