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Breakthrough Treatment for Heart Failure
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There is new hope for survival for those with heart failure. Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows intensive drug therapy administered with an artificial pump that has been designed to help a failing heart can improve survival.
According to the American Heart Association, over 550,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed each year. Heart Failure is a condition that results from a problem with the heart that interferes with its ability to either fill properly or pump blood effectively. If left untreated, many can die from this condition.
If a patient goes into severe heart failure, a heart transplant may be needed. But in most countries donor hearts are not readily available. A left ventricular assist device or LVAD has been developed to help the failing heart to “buy” time before a heart transplant can be performed. This device, allows blood to exit the heart and through its own pump mechanism forces blood through the aorta- the body’s main artery.
In the study, 15 patients with severe heart failure were implanted with left ventricular assist devices in conjunction with combination drug therapy to initially reverse remodeling of the left ventricle. Once heart enlargement was reduced, patients received clenbuterol to help the heart pump more effectively.
The study showed that 11 of 15 improved to the point that the device could be removed by 1 year, and 4 years after the study, nine were still alive and free of heart failure. These results are remarkable given that normally the mortality rate is 25% per year.
Given these surprising, yet outstanding results, a much larger study is now being planned to better understand how medicines should be mixed with ventricular assist devices.
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