Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Zhang Hua
Correspondent Huang Rui Mai Jingting
“With this device implanted, I’m not so breathless.” 78-year-old Li Mr. patted his right chest and said. “My father lived to be 88 years old, and now I have confidence.” He even got off the crutches and strode up, feeling the pleasure of freedom of movement. But just last month, he also came to the hospital for rescue because of heart failure. “Last year, he was admitted to the hospital and rescued 15 times.” Chen Xiangxin, vice president of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and professor of cardiovascular medicine, implanted a CCM (cardiac contractility regulator) for him to help him improve his heart function. To a large extent also improved their quality of life. According to the reporter’s understanding, this is the first batch of CCM implantation cases in China and the first in Guangzhou, which fills the gap in the field of chronic heart failure device treatment in China.
Mr. Li smiles after the operation and finally stops breathing
Intractable heart failure made him hospitalized for a year 15 rescues
Mr. Li is an authentic Guangzhou native. Before retirement, his health was not very good. In 2002, he underwent bladder cancer surgery. In March 2021, coronary stent was implanted due to coronary heart disease and ischemic cardiomyopathy. In December, because of ischemic cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was implanted in the left chest.
“In the past three years, my health has gotten worse. I often suffer from shortness of breath, and I can’t lie flat at all. Sometimes I struggle to cover myself with the quilt. Tortured enough. Last year, he was admitted to the hospital 15 times, all because of heart failure. “It won’t be four or five days after I was discharged from the hospital, and I will come to the hospital again.” Mr. Li said. Just because he was in and out of the hospital frequently, the nurses and doctors in the Cardiology Department upstairs and downstairs knew him, and often smiled and said to him, “The old patient is here again.”
Actually, heart failure patients like Mr. Li are still very common in our country. Mai Jingting, associate professor of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, told reporters: “According to the latest data released last year, there are about 8.9 million heart failure patients in China. Due to the impaired blood pumping function and insufficient cardiac output, they have difficulty breathing and walking. Dressing and bathing are very difficult, poor sleep, poor appetite, edema of the lower limbs. What is even more worrying is that due to heart failure, their lives are still threatened at any time, because patients with heart failure have a higher risk of sudden cardiac death. At the same time, the quality of life is also poor, basic activities cannot be taken care of by themselves, often hospitalization or acute exacerbations require emergency treatment.”
Mr. Li It is too rare for him to take a step forward.
CCM fills the gap in the field of chronic heart failure device treatment in China
Unfortunately, Mr. Li has In and out of the Heart Failure Center of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, even with standardized management, after optimized drugs, revascularization and other treatments, his asthma symptoms have eased, but he still has heart failure once every two or three months. Three months ago, the doctor reexamined his heart color Doppler ultrasound and the EF was still as low as 32% (EF stands for ejection fraction, and the normal value should be 50%-70%), indicating that the heart failure has not been fundamentally improved, and the dynamic electrocardiogram frequently occurs. Polymorphic premature ventricular tachycardia and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia may induce myocardial infarction at any time, which is life-threatening. The doctor had to implant a single-chamber ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) in his left chest.
Although ICD is the most effective and essential means to prevent sudden cardiac death, for Mr. Li, the improvement of asthma and dyspnea did not help. How to do it? Doctors also have headaches. On March 12, Mr. Li was admitted to hospital for emergency treatment again because of heart failure. At this time, the implantable cardiac contractility regulator was listed in Guangzhou. “We suggested that he try this method, because other treatment methods are basically ineffective for him.” Professor Chen Xiangxin said.
According to the reporter’s understanding, this is a minimally invasive interventional operation, which can be completed in 1 hour. Experts implanted a cardiac contractility regulator subcutaneously in Mr. Li’s right chest to help him increase myocardial contractility and improve symptoms. The day after the operation, Mr. Li got out of bed. It is estimated that he has never felt such a free breath and brisk pace in the past three years. To the surprise of the doctors, Mr. Li’s renal function also improved significantly, and his creatinine dropped from 300umol/L to 120umol/L. This shows that the pumping function of the heart has improved, and the function of the kidney has also been significantly improved.
Implantable cardiac contractility regulator improves symptoms in patients with heart failure
Chen Xinxin points out , ICD is the first-line treatment for many patients with heart failure with decreased EF, and can reduce the mortality of patients by reducing sudden cardiac death. However, for patients with severe heart failure, especially those who still have recurrent heart failure after standardized treatment, it is not enough to prevent sudden death, and it is necessary to improve the quality of life of patients. As a new means of heart failure device treatment, CCM can increase myocardial contractility, improve symptoms, and improve the quality of life of patients, filling the gap in the domestic chronic heart failure device treatment field.