Scott & White Memorial – Temple has, for the first time, implanted a new miniaturised, wireless monitoring sensor to help manage heart failure. Scott & White Memorial is one of six hospitals in Texas and the first hospital in the Baylor Scott & White Health system to offer the device.

“We are always looking for new and innovative ways to treat our patient’s disease process and improve outcomes for heart failure patients,” said Robert Scott III, MD, Director for Advanced Heart Failure at Scott & White Memorial. “This device will give us the ability to anticipate problems with our patients before they occur, decreasing their chance of being re-admitted to the hospital, and improving their quality of life.”

The CardioMEMS HF System is the first FDA-approved heart monitoring device that has been proven to significantly reduce hospital admissions. It is implanted in the pulmonary artery (PA) during a minimally invasive procedure and measures and transmits PA pressure from the patient to the healthcare team. While weight and blood pressure are considered to be indirect measures of worsening heart failure, elevation in PA pressure appears before these indicators. This new device provides daily sensor readings from the patient’s home to the healthcare providers and enables clinicians to provide personalised and proactive management that has the potential to reduce the likelihood of hospitalisation and the onset of debilitating symptoms.

According to John Erwin III, MD, cardiologist at Scott & White Memorial, heart failure can have a significant impact on the quality of life of the patient and can also result in repeated hospitalisation. With this new option, patients can better manage their chronic disease and reduce their chances of readmission. In addition, with this device, the patient’s quality of life can be improved as it can enable both the patient and the clinicians to act preventatively as compared to responding when an adverse event occurs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that over 5.1 million Americans have heart failure and nearly 670,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. This new device can help heart failure patients and ensure preventive measures are taken in time.

More information about the device is available in this short video:



Source: Baylor Scott & White Health

Image Credit: Scott & White Memorial

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heart failure, quality of life, hospitalisation, heart monitoring device, PA pressure, Cardio MEMS HF System A new heart monitoring device, approved by the FDA, has been used by Scott & White Memorial to improve outcomes for heart failure patients. It measures PA pressure and provides daily sensor readings from the patient's home to the healthcare provider.