23
Oct
Biventricular ICDs allow those with heart failure to return to normal activities
America saw an increase of 131 percent for those over the age of 65 hospitalized for heart failure between 1980 and 2006, research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008 revealed.
The number of Americans living with heart failure is estimated to be approximately 5.3 million people, with 660,000 new cases diagnosed each year, the American Heart Association says.
"For patients suffering from heart failure, a biventricular ICD will allow the heart to be re-synchronized and can help patients to breathe better and do more of their normal activities during the day," Dr. Mohammed Khan, MD, selected as a Chicago Top Doctor by TopTierMD as a top rated cardiologist in Chicago, says.
"To put it into perspective, these are patients that are having trouble breathing just walking around the room. They get fatigued from doing daily activities. The idea of a biventricular ICD is to help them do these everyday activities. We'll see patients that respond extremely well go back to doing these things and taking part in more vigorous activity than they were before."
Biventricular ICDs, or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, are small, battery-powered electrical impulse generators that are implanted into patients to help regulate the heart.
"Leads are attached from a biventricular ICD into the right atrium, right ventricle and left ventricle in a procedure that takes a couple of hours," Dr. Khan says. "The leads allow the re-synchronization of the heart.
"Biventricular ICDs can have a tremendous impact on a patient's life, both from a quality of life and a quantity of life perspective. Biventricular ICDs not only decrease mortality, they also lengthen life span for the vast majority of patients."
The risk during the operation is generally low, Dr. Khan says, with complications infrequently arising from a hole in the lung or a hole in the heart.
"We actually put the patient's heart into fast rhythms to test that the ICD is working," Dr. Khan says. "It's not a risky part of the procedure and the risk is less than one percent. The most common risk you see is bleeding or a risk of infection.
Dr. Khan says that a biventricular ICD should improve a patient's quality of life and that doctor's should pay close attention to their patients to make sure no complications arise.
"That's the mark of a good doctor," Dr. Khan says. "We provide patients with good follow-up care to allow them to get the best benefit out of these devices.
"The risk, in general, is rather low for biventricular ICDs, but, at some point, they'll need to get their batteries changed out, which happens every three to seven years depending on what type of battery is used and how often it's used. Occasionally, they'll also need to have leads changed."
Dr. Mohammed Khan, MD, was selected by TopTierMD as a Chicago Top Doctor and is considered Best in Cardiology in Chicago. He specializes in atrial fibrillation, ablation and ICDs.
