A new heart failure treatment

Clinical data from two studies show promising results of a new device for treating patients with  ischemic heart failure. The catheter-based Parachute Ventricular Partitioning Device, a Percutaneous Ventricular Restoration Therapy (PVRT) technology was developed by University Hospitals Case Medical Center and CardioKinetix, Inc. “This innovative device has the potential to bring together two cardiology disciplines -- heart failure and interventional cardiology -- to address a significant unmet need in heart failure,” William T. Abraham, who was part of the first US trial, said. Ischemic heart failure occurs when patients experience an enlargement of the left ventricle following a heart attack. In a minimally invasive procedure, a small catheter is inserted to deploy the Parachute implant in the left ventricle to partition the damaged muscle non-functional heart segment from the healthy, functional segment to decrease the overall volume of the left ventricle.