William Atkins
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 19:36
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 3
The Los Angeles Times article
Combination device reduces heart failure deaths states
“The combination device, called a CRT-D, had previously been shown effective in patients with severe heart failure, but this is the first study to investigate its use in those with milder forms of disease, who account for about 70% of the 5.5 million U.S. heart failure patients.”
The CRT-D device, which costs between $25,000 and $30,000, contains:
(1) a cardiac resynchronization component that uses a small implantable device with leads that go to both ventricles for synchroniztion. It delivers a small but regular electric signal to the heart to re-start the beating of the heart.
(2) a defibrillator component that shocks the heart back to a normal rhythm if it begins to beat irregularly.
The
Wall Street Journal article
Devices Show Promise for Heart Failure discusses the study that was performed by Boston Scientific.
It states,
“The Boston Scientific-sponsored study compared cardiac resynchronizers with traditional implanted defibrillators, which wait for the heart to stop and deliver a jolt to restart it. Such defibrillators cost about $25,000 and have been shown to extend lifespan, but at the cost of aggravated heart failure and diminished quality of life from unnecessary shocks.”
And,
“In the study, about 24% of the patients with a resynchronizer died or needed treatment for worsening heart failure, such as being hospitalized, within four years. The comparable figure for patients with a defibrillator was about 30%.”
Page three concludes.
