Cleveland Clinic is the first in the world to implant a dual cardiac device that potentially treats heart failure symptoms.
The surgery was part of a clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of a device that combines two cardiac therapies: Cardiac contractility modulation, which improves the contraction of the heart, and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which treats arrhythmias that cause sudden cardiac death.
"This could be an important advancement for heart failure patients, requiring just one procedure to deliver two important therapies and prevent sudden cardiac death," Bruce Wilkoff, MD, director of cardiac pacing and tachyarrhythmia devices at Cleveland Clinic and principal investigator for the INTEGRA-D study, said in a May 18 system news release. "The hope is that this rechargeable technology — with a potential battery life of up to 20 years — will significantly reduce the need for replacement procedures."