A pair of Trinity Health Oakland doctors in Pontiac became the first in Michigan to implant a Barostim Baroreflex Activation Therapy Device, which helps improve the symptoms of heart failure in patients.
The neuromodulation device is designed to help systolic patients who are not getting enough symptom relief from medication alone. The surgery was conducted at the by interventional cardiologist Dr. Michele DeGregorio and Dr. Charles Schwartz.
“I’m really excited to bring this new procedure to our patients and the communities we serve,” says Schwartz, a cardiothoracic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive valve repair and replacement, coronary artery surgery and the surgical correction of thoracic aneurysms.
“Our team has worked incredibly hard to build a regionally leading cardiology and cardiac surgery program that combines advanced expertise with cutting-edge tools to help our patients live longer, healthier lives. We’re now performing procedures that would have seemed unimaginable just a decade ago, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of these innovations.”
The device is unique because it is not implanted in the heart or arteries, instead its placed under the skin, similar to a pacemaker. It electrically stimulates baroreceptors, natural sensors located in the wall of the carotid artery, that tell the nervous system how to regulate heart, kidney and vascular function.
These effects reduce the heart’s workload and help it pump more efficiently, helping to restore balance to the autonomic nervous system and improve the symptoms of heart failure. Used in coordination with heart failure medications, Barostim can improve exercise capacity and quality of life, helping patients return to their daily activities.
People with heart failure often experience shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in lower extremities, weakness, and the reduced ability to perform physical activity, according to hospital officials.
In the United States, heart failure is estimated to affect 6.9 million adults and is expected to increase by 24 percent to nearly 8.5 million by 2030, notes the Heart Failure Society of America. Overall, heart failure is associated with a four-fold increased risk of death and a six to nine times increased risk of sudden cardiac death.
