Columbus-based Ohio State University's Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital is the first in the world to study the clinical benefits of a device used to treat diastolic heart failure.
Diastolic heart failure occurs when the heart muscle becomes stiff and does not allow blood to flow from the lungs into the heart. This causes blood to flood the first lower left heart chamber, then the upper left chamber and into the lungs.
A dime-sized implant can relieve the high pressure and associated heart failure symptoms, according to a Dec. 5 release from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The Ross Heart Hospital was also the first to randomize patients in the two prior clinical trials.
"Despite ongoing pharmaceutical advances, treatment has remained challenging for those suffering from diastolic heart failure," Rami Kahwash, MD, director of Ohio State's Heart and Vascular Research organization, said in the release. "Multiple therapeutic approaches are needed due to the several types of this syndrome."