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100 Years of Fashion Goes Red
Complex Pacemaker Achieves Synchrony of the Heart
Nationally-Known Congestive Heart Failure Expert Chosen to Head Nation Wide Research
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100 Years of Fashion Goes Red – Official Centennial Event –
Celebrated Valentine’s Day
Oklahoma Heart Hospital and Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates Celebrate “Wear Red” Campaign to Educate Oklahoma Women about
Risk of Heart Disease
OKLAHOMA CITY— The Oklahoma Heart Hospital and Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates are celebrating Valentine’s Day and Wear Red month by inaugurating a new Centennial display at the hospital that honors Red Fashions through the decades of Oklahoma’s 100 years. The display will be celebrated on Valentine’s Day – the day of hearts.
“We are weaving our commitment to women’s heart health with the national “Wear Red” campaign and Oklahoma’s Centennial this year with a fabulous display of red dresses throughout the 100 year history of Oklahoma,” said Peggy Tipton, R.N., Chief Operating Officer, Oklahoma Heart Hospital. “Our team has searched for vintage dresses from across the country and designed and sewn antique dresses representing the 10 decades of Oklahoma’s Centennial.”
The Centennial dresses feature an outstanding woman from Oklahoma’s history representing each decade of the 100 years. The exhibit recognizes the famous Pioneer Woman from Ponca City – the flamboyant flapper of the Oil fields in the 20’s – the nation’s first black judge – the first female awarded a Purple Heart in World War II and many more notable Oklahoma women.
“The facts of women’s heart disease in Oklahoma continue to shock us, the average age for heart disease among Oklahoma women is 49 years old. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women – taking more Oklahoma women’s lives than all of the cancers combined, 1 in 3 women in our state will develop heart disease. And yet a recent Harris poll revealed only 13 percent of women in America believes that heart disease and stroke are the greatest health threat to women.” – Dr. John Harvey, Chief Executive Officer, Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
THE HEART TRUTH IS:
One in three women dies of heart disease. One in 30 dies of cancer.
Nearly two-thirds of American women who die suddenly of a heart attack had no prior symptoms.
Two-thirds of American women who have had a heart attack don’t make a full recovery.
American women can lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 82 percent by leading a healthy lifestyle.
OKLAHOMA WOMEN FACTS
Heart disease is the number one killer of Oklahoma women
Oklahoma women rank third in the nation in rate of heart disease
51% of heart attack deaths in Oklahoma are in women (2003)
80,000 Oklahoma women hospitalized with heart disease (2001)
Average Oklahoman woman’s age for heart disease is 49 years old
Oklahoma has third highest smoking rate in America
Diabetes has increased 43% in past decade in Oklahoma
One in 5 Oklahomans has high blood pressure
One in 5 Oklahomans has high cholesterol
PREVENTION
Avoid smoking and environmental tobacco smoke
30 minutes of exercise on most days
Control diabetes
Heart-healthy diet including a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains, low-fat or no-fat dairy products, fish, legumes and proteins low in saturated fat
Watch your weight
Maintain a blood pressure less than 120/80
Control cholesterol …LDL higher than 100 mg
HDL lower than 50 mg
Triglycerides lower than 150 mg
Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates is the states largest group of cardiovascular specialists with 40 physicians in nearly 40 clinics across Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. ocaheart.com
The Oklahoma Heart Hospital is the state’s first all-digital hospital totally focused on the care of hearts.
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COMPLEX PACEMAKER ACHIEVES SYNCHRONY OF THE HEART
Improves Heart Pumping Function in 75% of Heart Failure Patients
By Dr. Mark Harvey
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) is the use of an implantable computerized device to restore the natural synchronized beating of the lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, to treat chronic heart failure. The right and left ventricles must beat in a synchronized pattern to get the blood pumped optimally from the heart to deliver oxygen to the rest of the body. When the ventricles are out of sync - the heart function declines - patients experience marked shortness of breath, dry cough, swelling in the ankles, weight gain, fatigue and a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
A special kind of implantable cardiac device, called a biventricular defibrillator, can restore the hearts synchrony and improve the movement of oxygen through the body, dramatically improving heart failure patient’s symptoms. The implantation of a biventricular pacemaker improves symptoms in about 75% of heart failure patients.
The biventricular defibrillator is implanted in the Electrophysiology lab at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. The lab is configured with electronic equipment and special heart monitoring equipment to analysis and test the conduction system of the heart, a cardiovascular specialist called a Cardiac Electrophysiologist performs the procedure.
The biventricular pulse generator is implanted under the skin of the chest. Soft electric wires or leads are inserted through key veins of the heart to electrically stimulate the heart in these areas. The device monitors and paces the heart like a normal pacemaker, it can shock the heart if needed like a defibrillator and it resynchronizes the pumping of the heart by pulsing the left ventricle.
During the implantation the patient is under conscious sedation, they are aware of what is happening and can speak to the doctor if needed. They are kept painfree and don’t remember the procedure.
First, a pocket for the device is made just under the skin near the collar bone. The device is made of a titanium shell. A battery, capacitors and a computer are inside monitoring and logging every beat of the heart. This implantable computer senses irregular heart beats, either slow or fast, and instructs the unit how to correct the irregular rhythms.
Using an x-ray fluoroscope monitor the Electrophysiologist inserts the three leads into the appropriate locations of the heart. One monitors the upper chamber of the heart for slow rhythms, another is placed in the right ventricle to deliver a life-saving shock if needed and the third lead syncs the lowers pumping chambers of the heart. The device is then placed into the skin pocket and is evaluated externally to test the function of each lead. The patient is given a shock to ensure the device is functioning properly before the surgeon closes the pocket.
The procedure lasts from one to three hours. The patient will be kept in the hospital overnight for monitoring and testing and most go home the next day. The risk of the procedure is about 1%. Patients need to restrict their arm movement in the area of the device for about a week and avoid strenuous exercise for 6 weeks.
The morning after the procedure, the patient has an x-ray to check lung function and the position of the device. In follow-up exams, the biventricular device data is downloaded to a computer allowing evaluation of the performance of the patient’s heart and pacing. An antenna is placed over the skin above the device and a machine known as a programmer downloads the information.
Often, patients also undergo an echocardiogram during the same visit to ensure the device and the patient’s heart are working together for optimal efficiency. A technician electronically measures the functioning of the device while a sonographer physically watches the hearts function with the ultrasound. Adjustments can be made to the device to improve efficiency.
The Electrophysiologist can use the data to determine if further changes need to be made to the patient’s biventricular pacing device or medications to improve heart function.
Patients may be given a remote instrument that attaches to their home phone so that they can phone data into the physician’s office at anytime by putting the remote antenna over the skin above their device. The remote unit lessens the need for visits to the doctor’s office and keeps the physician informed as to the biventricular pacemaker’s performance long-distance.
Candidates for a biventricular defibrillator are those with moderate or severe heart failure, low ejection fraction levels (levels that measure the pumping ability of the heart), those whose heart failure medications are not adequately treating symptoms and patients diagnosed with ventricular desynchrony. Clinical trials demonstrate an overall improvement in the patient’s quality of life, increased physical activity, and ability to exercise.
Resynchronization therapy with biventricular pacing is one part of a comprehensive heart failure management program. Not long ago, chronic heart failure was a diagnosis with few treatments and little hope. Today, carefully monitored medications, weight gain, diet and lifestyle changes along with frequent visits with a heart failure specialist have changed chronic heart failure into a disease with many treatment options and a new horizon of hope.
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NATIONALLY-KNOWN CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE EXPERT CHOSEN TO HEAD NATION-WIDE RESEARCH INTO HEART FAILURE MANAGEMENT DEVICE
Dr. Philip Adamson, Medical Director for the Heart Failure Institute at Oklahoma Heart Hospital Tapped to Evaluate Combination Implantable Defibrillator and Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring Device
OKLAHOMA CITY—Medtronic, Inc. announced today that Oklahoma physician Dr. Philip B. Adamson, a cardiologist with Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates, was chosen to head a large multi-center clinical trial. The trial will evaluate an experimental implanted device called the “Chronicle-ICD”, which combines an implantable cardioverter defibrillator with a continuous blood pressure monitoring device permanently implanted inside the heart. The Chronicle-ICD trial will enroll 850 patients in over 70 centers nationwide. Dr. Adamson will be the steering committee chairperson and Principle Investigator for the Medtronic sponsored trial.
“This is a very great honor and responsibility. The trial is the first to evaluate an implanted device that combines an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ‘ICD’ with a continuous internal blood pressure monitoring device directly implanted in the heart,” noted Dr. Adamson. “ICD’s effectively reduce the risk of sudden death in patients with heart failure, but only really provide therapy at the time of an abnormal heartbeat. The vast majority of patients with ICD’s never have therapy delivered from the implanted device. This trial will be the most important opportunity to see if enhancing the monitoring features of an ICD with continuous hemodynamic monitoring will improve lives of patients who undergo implantation of the device.”
Dr. Adamson is the Director of the Heart Failure Institute at Oklahoma Heart Hospital and is a Cardiologist that specializes in treating patients with congestive heart failure. “Patients with heart failure often times accumulate too much fluid in their bodies, which makes it difficult for them to breathe or walk. Hospitalizations are required in many instances to get the fluid problem under control. Heart failure contributes to over 3 million hospitalizations in the United States and is the leading cause of hospitalization in individuals over the age of 65 years,” Dr. Adamson continued. “A critical problem with congestive heart failure is knowing how the heart is handling the excess fluid that is chronic with this disease. This internal monitoring could give us a valuable new tool in accessing the unseen effects of the fluid in the heart before the patient goes into crisis.”
5 million Americans have congestive heart failure an additional 550,000 are diagnosed with it each year. Congestive heart failure is the number one cause of hospital admissions and the cost to society exceeds $37 billion each year. Just 10 years ago half of the people diagnosed with congestive heart disease died within five years, today the death rate in five years has dropped to just 15%.
Congestive heart failure is typically a menacing disease that causes a steady decline in the pumping ability of the heart muscle causing the walls of the heart to enlarge. This makes the heart work much harder and causes fluid to build up in the lungs, liver, abdomen and lower extremities. The heart can become so weak that it fails to pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body’s needs. Congestive heart failure is most commonly caused by damage to the heart muscles from heart attacks due to heart vessel blockages and high blood pressure. Other causes also occur such as heart valve damage from infection or irregular heart beats.
Oklahoma Heart Hospital is the state’s first all-digital hospital totally focused on the care of hearts. okheart.com
Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates is the state’s largest group of cardiovascular specialists with 37 physicians in nearly 40 clinics across Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. For the location nearest you call 888-777-3818 or go to ocaheart.com
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