WHS to employ heart failure device
Dr. Michael Campsey displays the wireless heart-monitoring sensor.
The miniature sensor is about the size of a dime.
Washington Health System will be on the cutting edge of a cutting-edge cardio technology.
Physicians in the system will be implanting a miniature, wireless sensor in patients to monitor heart failure.
The CardioMEMS HF System will be placed in the pulmonary artery in a non-surgical procedure, enabling detection of increased pressures in the artery that can indicate increasing heart failure.
Patients at home can transmit sensor readings to health-care providers, prompting immediate response in treatment and reducing the possibility of hospitalization.
WHS will be the first health facility in Western Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh, to implant this sensor, said Stephanie Wagoner, manager of marketing and community for the system.
Dr. Michael Campsey, director of WHS cardiology services, who performs the procedure, said, “We are very excited to offer this state-of-the-art technology to our patients with heart failure.
The CardioMEMS HF system gives the heart failure team an opportunity to intervene before the symptoms of congestive heart failure occur.”
It is the only heart failure monitoring device approved by the Food and Drug Administration to markedly reduce hospital admissions.
The sensor is designed to last a patient’s lifetime and does not require batteries.
Heart failure occurs when the organ cannot pump a sufficient amount of blood. More than 5.1 million Americans have heart failure, and 670,000 cases are diagnosed annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Patients often are hospitalized, have a diminished quality of life and face a greater risk of death.