August 6, Minsk / Corr. BelTA /. On September 5-6, Cardiologists at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center (RSPC) treated the first patients in Belarus with the innovative AccuCinch System for the treatment of heart failure, deputy director for therapeutic care at the center, Alena Kurlianskaya, told Belta.
Alena Kurlianskaya
The operations were performed during a multicenter clinical study sponsored by the American manufacturer of the AccuCinch System, Ancora Heart. RSPC Cardiology was chosen along with leading clinics in Europe to study the therapy.
To date, clinical studies in this field of endovascular cardiology have not been conducted in Belarus. Treating these patients was made possible by the team’s experience in heart failure and endovascular surgery.
Today, two younger heart failure patients were treated: one is 33 years old, the second is 40 years old. Yesterday, another patient was treated. As a result of heart failure, these patient’s left ventricles were significantly expanded, reducing the ventricle’s ability to contract.
“This is the first time a unique system for repairing the left ventricle is being used to treat patients with chronic heart failure,” said Alena Kurlianskaya.
The AccuCinch is delivered to the left ventricle through intravascular access. It is placed in the left ventricle wall and then cinched to decrease the left-ventricular volume and increase cardiac output.
“Before these patients came to us, they had shortness of breath, swelling, severe heart failure. They were treated with medication, but the maximum doses of their medications were no longer effective. Therefore, it was necessary to provide another treatment method. If you don’t intervene now, then after a while, either a heart transplant is required, or some kind of adverse clinical outcome can happen,” said Alena Kurlianskaya. Thanks to RSPC’s participation in the clinical study, it was possible to treat these heart failure patients at an earlier stage.
The study is expected to include 30 heart failure patients. Patients interested in participating in the study will undergo a multi-stage selection process, which includes being evaluated by an independent California company to determine if they qualify.
The RPRC specialists met with representatives of Ancora Heart a year and a half ago when they attended a specialized congress to familiarize themselves with the latest cardiology technologies. “I liked this technology very much. We presented our center. We told what technologies we have, how we treat patients with heart failure, how we observe them, what therapies we use,” said Alena Kurlianskaya. “I must say that not every center is accepted into such large-scale projects. After the center was reviewed, RSPC Cardiology was approved to be included in this multicenter study. ”
At the center, comprehensive programs are being implemented to help patients with severe heart failure. “Many new therapies are being developed for the treatment of heart failure. We want to use the ones that are the most effective. And this is one of the newest, most promising innovative devices,” the deputy director added.
Photo by Ramil Nasibulin