FORT WORTH – Medical City Fort Worth is the first in Texas to use a novel, investigational pulmonary neuromodulation system to treat patients with acute heart failure, a life-threatening and often irreversible condition. Heart failure affects about 6.2 million Americans, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The system uses an intravascular catheter, placed via a vein in the neck and through the heart, to provide electrical stimulation to a nerve on the back of the heart. Early studies have shown that stimulating the nerve can increase how strong the heart beats, pumping blood more efficiently through the body without significantly increasing the heart rate.
Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is the sudden or gradual onset of heart failure signs or symptoms. These include severe breathlessness, rapid weight gain and fluid build-up in the lungs and around the body. Currently, medications are the primary treatment for the condition. Many of those medications have side effects that may limit their benefits.
ADHF requires a physician’s care but may also lead to multiple emergency room visits, hospitalizations, decreased quality of life or death.
Leading-edge treatment, including participating in investigational clinical trials, is part of Medical City Fort Worth’s mission to care for and improve human lives. Click here to learn more about cardiology services at Medical City Fort Worth.