Backus Hospital has begun offering a new treatment for heart failure patients to help augment their medications and live more normally.
Called Cardiac Contractility Modulation Therapy (CCM), it is an implanted device similar to a pacemaker for heart failure patients. It is implanted during a minimally invasive procedure while the patient is under light sedation.
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Paras Bhatt, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist who is medical director of electrophysiology for Backus and Windham Hospitals, said Backus is the first hospital in the Hartford HealthCare system to provide this device, and only the second in the state.
The device delivers precisely timed electrical pulses to the heart that improve the heart’s ability to contract, Dr. Bhatt said. “This allows more oxygen-rich blood to be pumped throughout the body, which in turn means patients experience fewer heart failure symptoms.”
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Heart failure symptoms include:
- Breathlessness
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Swelling in the legs
Taken individually or combined, these symptoms can negatively impact a patient’s ability to perform every day activities and diminish their quality of life. While heart failure can be effectively managed with medications, sometimes they aren’t enough. The CCM device helps to supplement what the medications can do.
CCM therapy may be an option for up to 70% of heart failure patients classified as NYHA Class III. That classification means the patient is comfortable at rest but less-than-ordinary activity causes fatigue, palpation, dyspnea or angina pain.