Cuff around aorta pumps blood from the heart, proves effective in some severe cases
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) October 2014 – Citing a new published study doctors are calling an experimental device a “potential breakthrough” in the treatment of heart failure patients. The C-Pulse device was tested in 20 patients for the first time in the U.S. and was able to slow or, in some cases, actually reverse the symptoms of heart failure. It could represent a new treatment option for many of the 5 million Americans with heart failure.
“We saw remarkable improvements in how these patients felt and their quality of life was substantially improved,” said Dr. William Abraham, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and lead author of the study. “Some patients went from very advanced cases of heart failure to having only mild symptoms, or none at all. In a couple of instances, patients were actually able to be removed from the pump,” he said.
The C-Pulse is a cuff that’s wrapped around the outside of the aorta and is synced with a patient’s heartbeat to help push blood out of the heart more efficiently.
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1.64 -> CLARK POWELL: It's hard to believe to see
him today, but it wasn't long ago that Richard
4.52 -> Jacob was in desperate need of a new heart.
He had survived a blood clot, several surgeries,
9.47 -> and years of heart failure, and after being
put on a waiting list for a transplant, he
13.35 -> signed up for as many clinical trials as he
could find.
16.01 -> RICHARD JACOB: I would volunteer for things
because I thought, well, it might get me
20.829 -> three more months. It might get me four more
months. It might get me a year or more. And
25.429 -> who knows what would come up on the horizon.
27.31 -> POWELL: Turns out one of the newest treatments
on the horizon was one Richard tested himself.
31.819 -> Leading up to his transplant, Richard was
the first heart failure patient in the U.S.
36.07 -> to get this.
37.3 -> It's called C-Pulse. It's a cuff placed around
the aorta that syncs to a patient's pulse
42.57 -> and helps squeeze blood from the heart. And
a new study shows dramatic results in a hand
47.44 -> full of early patients.
48.789 -> DR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM: They went from very advanced,
class 3 or class 4 heart failure to asymptomatic,
53.469 -> or only mildly symptomatic. And in a couple
of instances they were actually able to be
59.21 -> removed from the pump.
60.589 -> POWELL: Dr. William Abraham of The Ohio State
University Wexner Medical Center led the study.
64.92 -> He says walking tests showed patients with
the device had much more stamina. Hospitalizations
69.92 -> were eliminated for 85 percent of the patients
in the first year. And quality of life scores
75.36 -> shot up more than 20 points.
77.009 -> ABRAHAM: Our currently available drug and
device therapies for heart failure improved
82.31 -> that same quality of life score by only five
or ten points. So this is truly a remarkable
87.909 -> improvement in quality of life.
89.59 -> POWELL: That's something Richard can attest
to with all his heart.
92.68 -> JACOB: It just kept me going until I got to
a transplant position. And I was very lucky.
98.329 -> POWELL: At Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center,
this is Clark Powell reporting.
