SUNY Downstate is First in City to Implant New Cardiac Device:
Aug 20, 2008
New Defibrillator is Smallest, Thinnest
Brooklyn, NY - The cardiac team at SUNY Downstate Medical Center recently performed the first implantation in New York City of the world’s smallest, thinnest defibrillator device. This new device, called the Cognis™ Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May and was released for use on August 4.
Created by Boston Scientific, the device is 9.9 mm thin – less than ¾’s of an inch wide – and offers improved safety design, enhanced diagnostics, flexible programming options, and increased battery life for patients experiencing heart failure or have conditions caused by irregular heart beats, including cardiac arrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. Because of its small size, the device also potentially offers improved therapies for pediatric patients with these conditions.
Ventricular fibrillation may be felt as an occasional heart flutter. “In some patients, a flutter will go away by itself, in others, the condition left untreated can lead to sudden death,” said Dr. Adam Budzikowski, a cardiologist who specializes in the electrical currents within the body that control the heart.
Patients with heart failure have problems keeping the left and right sides of their heart beating in synch. Implantable defibrillators detect irregular heart rhythms and deliver small, therapeutic electric shocks to restore normal rhythm. The Cognis CRT-D device paces both sides of the heart to restore synchrony and help the heart pump more efficiently. It also gives physicians better options for stimulating the left side of the heart to restore a normal beat after the device is implanted.
“Because of its smaller size, the Cognis CRT-D is a better cosmetic option for patients,” said Dr. Budzikowski. “It also gives physicians more options, by allowing physicians to access up to six pacing vectors for the left ventricular lead, compared to other devices on the market that offer only three or four. This makes this a better option for patients who need cardiac resynchronization.”
The Cognis CRT-D’s small size and six pacing vectors also mean that patients who might otherwise have to have an open heart procedure to have a life-saving defibrillator implanted can now have the device inserted through a small incision in the chest, with less scarring and faster recovery time.
“The COGNIS CRT-D offers us a new platform to treat heart failure and sudden cardiac death,” adds Dr. John Kassotis, director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at SUNY Downstate. “We expect it will help us tailor individualized pacing therapies for patients, especially heart failure patients who have frequent atrial arrhythmias.
That was the case for the patient, a 54-year-old woman with severe heart and lung disease, whose illness was so severe that she had to sleep sitting up at night. Her cardiac disease created such shortness of breath that she wasn't able to lie flat.
Dr. Budzikowski led the implantation surgery. The patient was ready to be released from the hospital by mid-day on Wednesday.
“This was the best – and possibly only option for this patient,” said Dr. Budzikowski. “Her quality of life will definitely improve.”
###
About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.