Cardiologists Implant the First Cancion® Device
at Penn
Cardiologists at the University of Pennsylvania
Health System (UPHS) have successfully implanted
the first Cancion® investigational device
as part of the Momentum clinical trial. The device,
made by Orqis Medical, is a blood pump for heart
failure patients who don’t qualify for
a transplant or are currently waiting for one.
Ideally, it is for patients with severe congestive
heart failure who are not responding well to
conventional, intravenous therapy.
Daniel
Kolansky, MD, an associate
professor at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac
Care Unit at the Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania, placed the device in a 61-year-old
patient on November 1, 2005 in the cardiac catheterization
lab at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Kolansky says: “This is an exciting development
for heart failure patients who may have few other
options.”
“The device decreases the work load of
the heart and may increase renal performance,” explained
Shashank
Desai, MD, principal investigator
and assistant professor of clinical medicine
at Penn. He is also a cardiologist with the Heart
Failure and Transplantation program at UPHS.
“Many
patients with severe heart failure that fail
with potent intravenous
medications are the ones eligible for enrollment
in this study with the Orqis Medical Cancion® CRS
cardiac recovery system,” adds Desai. “It
is a new concept in the treatment of heart failure.
It’s minimally invasive and provides cardiac
assistance for a failing heart for 96 hours.
It involves a temporary placement of two catheters
into arteries from the legs to the aorta and
does not enter the heart.”
The device increases blood flow down the thoracic
aorta through two arterial access conduits, a
pump, a motor, and a control system. This research
is looking to show that by supplementing blood
flow in the descending aorta, heart failure and
renal failure can be improved in the short- and
perhaps, even the long-term. This device, like
many investigational devices, is looking to improve
the quality of life for patients with severe
heart failure.
Kimberly Craig, ESQ, BSN,
RN, Faith Pickering,
RN, and Judy Marble, RN, all clinical
research nurses with the Heart Failure and
Transplantation program at UPHS, help round
out the team working on the new Momentum clinical
trial.
Craig says: “We're so happy to have the
opportunity to offer these patients another option
that could potentially help them feel better
and maybe even keep them out of the hospital. The
study team will continue to follow the patient’s
progress and hope that this device has a favorable
effect."
Eventually, the clinical trial will be done
at 40 sites nationwide.
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