Latest Device Helps Patients With Heart Conditions Live Better and Longer

‘It’s Like Having an Intensive Care Unit in Your Chest’
Helping patients with heart conditions, especially those with congestive heart failure (CHF), live better and longer is the goal of Marin General Hospital and California Pacific Medical Center Cardiologist Dr. Steven Hao, who has recently begun implanting new and improved pacemaker-like devices to help their hearts beat more efficiently.

“Most patients with CHF have weakened heart muscles that do not pump blood effectively,” Hao said. “This leads to shortness of breath and fatigue. These patients also have diseased electrical systems, which coordinate heart function that further prevents the heart from pumping efficiently.

“Resynchronizing the heart, or getting the walls of the heart to work together, with a biventricular pacemaker or biventricular defibrillator allows the heart to work better and move blood more efficiently.”

Studies have shown that two-thirds of selected CHF patients with these implanted devices feel better. CHF is a common life threatening condition suffered by a large percentage of the older population and affects 5 million Americans.

Hao, nationally known for his work in heart rhythm disorders, has used the latest technology to treat 30 patients with CHF in the last few months. The device, implanted beneath the skin near the collarbone, assists and monitors each heartbeat 24/7.

“It delivers small electrical impulses that, in most cases, improves the timing of the heart and its pumping ability,” said Hao. “The electrical signal is strong enough to stimulate the heart but not strong enough for the patient to feel.”

Hao said the biventricular defibrillator also monitors the heart for potentially fatal heart rhythms and if such a rhythm is detected, the device can deliver a lifesaving shock, restoring normal heart rhythm.

“It’s like having an Intensive Care Unit in your chest,” he said.

These devices can only be implanted by a specially trained physician in an electrophysiology lab or operating room. MGH’s electrophysiology lab opened last year and has specialized equipment used to treat patients suffering with irregular heartbeats.

Hao said the procedure can take anywhere from an hour to four hours and patients can expect to remain in the hospital overnight.

“Implanting this device is not a cure,” he said. “It works with lifestyle changes and medications to help patients feel better and lead a more normal life. In selected patients, studies have shown that controlling abnormal heart rhythms can significantly reduce death from heart disease.”

Congestive heart failure, commonly caused by high blood pressure, damage from a previous heart attack or diabetes, often leads to complications such as an enlarged heart and poor circulation. Some 550,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.

The new and improved devices are smaller and thinner than older models and provide information about the patient’s condition to help optimize device function and help patients feel better.
MGH and CPMC recently recruited Hao as part of a joint cardiac effort between the two medical institutions. Hao graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia. He completed his internship and residency at New York Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York City. He completed two fellowships at Weill on cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology.

He is Board Certified in internal medicine and cardiology. Hao joined the practice of Northern California Heart Care Medical Group, a partnership between MGH cardiologists and CPMC cardiologists.

Nov. 19, 2003