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May 28, 2002 - Midwest Heart Specialists First in Chicago Area to Pump Life Back into Patient’s Failing Heart

Midwest Heart Specialists First in Chicago Area to Pump Life Back into Patient’s Failing Heart

May 28, 2002
Downers Grove, IL
Cardiologists with Midwest Heart Specialists were the first in the Chicago area to implant a heart device designed to treat heart failure and prevent sudden cardiac death in patients.

The implant, completed at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove Tuesday, May 14, is the first non-research use of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which was approved in early May 2002, by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unlike traditional pacing therapies, this is the first device to use ‘resynchronization therapy’ or bi-ventriclar pacing to aid patients in severe congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure, a condition often associated with high blood pressure and heart disease is most recognized by weakened pumping function. As the heart’s left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) becomes enlarged and weakens, the heart fails to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body’s other organs.

For many patients with enlarged left ventricles, electrical timing of the heart’s contraction (or squeeze) often is delayed. “Resynchronizing” the timing of the ventricle’s contractions may help the heart beat more efficiently and increase the amount of oxygenated blood pumped to the body. The resynchronization of the heart’s ventricles is stimulated by the use of the ICD’s third lead, which is placed in the coronary sinus. The device releases electrical charges, causing the ventricles to beat simultaneously and potentially strengthening the heart’s pumping function.

"Five million Americans have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, with 500,000 new cases reported every year," said Robert Kinn, MD, the physician who implanted the device and a lead investigator at MHS for the three bi-ventricular pacing trials at MHS. "As bi-ventricular pacing technology was emerging, Midwest Heart Specialists saw an opportunity to offer appropriate candidates a remarkable chance to turn their lives around."

FDA approval of this device was given after more than two years of clinical trials.

Midwest Heart Specialists was selected as one of the sites to trial this new technology.

Midwest Heart Specialists is a 44 member private practice Cardiology group in the western suburbs of Chicago. Cardiac sub-specialties include congestive heart failure, electrophysiology, lipid management, interventional cardiology, radiology and clinical diagnosis and treatment. MHS physicians are on staff at nine area hospitals and have additional clinics in Aurora, Yorkville, BolingBrook, Kishwaukee and Sandwich.