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American Morning

FDA Approves New Type of Pacemaker That Could Get Patients Off Transplant Lists

Aired August 29, 2001 - 10:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Life may soon get a whole lot better for some of the five million Americans with congestive heart failure. The FDA has approved a new type of pacemaker that could get many patients off transplant lists and back to living more normal lives.

Our medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland is here with a look at the device.

Rhonda, this will be good news for a lot of heart patients.

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's very exciting. In fact, the manufacturing is calling this the biggest advance in heart failure since the instruction of medications. And of course, if we're talking about heart failure, we are talking about N-stage heart disease, and this occurs when bypass surgery, angioplasty no longer work. So this device we're talking about is a pacemaker. It is made by Medtronic. It is called In Sync Biventricular Pacing System. Now this will not cure heart failure, but instead, researchers say, it will greatly improve the patient's quality of life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM, UNIV. OF KENTUCKY: The Device was shown to markedly improve patient's quality of life and their functional capacity, and by functional capacity, I mean that they were able to exercise longer, and they were able to perform more of their normal activities of daily living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLAND: Now this device will not help all heart failure patients; they estimates perhaps half of those, and it will be those with what's called a conduction delay. This is a faulty electrical system in the heart. The pacemaker working in this way. There are three leads or wires that go to both sides of the heart, and it helps the heart pump more efficiently.

Now, Daryn, this is different of the way pacemaker's typically work. You know, we always hear about a pacemaker regulating a heartbeat that's too fast, too slow, so this one does work a little differently.

KAGAN: The kind of patient you were describing, this sounds like the kind of patient that might be using Abiocor, that artificial heart.

ROWLAND: That's right, exactly, because Mr. Robert Toole, who has the first artificial heart, had very advanced heart failure.

But this device should hopefully help patients who are not quite as sick. So earlier in the process.

And again, Daryn, we're talking about improving a patient's quality of life.

KAGAN: So we're not talking about living longer, we're talking about living better?

ROWLAND: That's right. In fact, the studies have not shown that patients who can get this can actually live any longer. Instead, what it does is shorten hospital stays, reduce the numbers, and also what the researchers say, is when the patients get this device, they feeling better within just a couple of weeks. It's like a light switch has been turned on, and that's how dramatic it is.

But again, the cost of this could be taking care of by just reducing the hospital stays, you know, cutting out one or two hospital stays, you know, pays for this.

KAGAN: Rhonda Rowland, thanks for bringing us the newest on that.

ROWLAND: Sure.

KAGAN: Appreciate it.

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