The Associated Press reports:
A simple fabric device that looks like fishnet hose but acts like support stockings helped weak hearts pump more efficiently and even shrink back to a more normal size, researchers reported at an American Heart Association conference.
The device is targeted at people with heart failure, which happens when a weak or damaged heart can’t pump as forcefully as it should. The heart enlarges, fluid backs up into the lungs, and people get more and more short of breath and tired, often making many trips to the hospital until their hearts eventually give out.
About 5 million Americans have this condition and more than a million have the type that might be helped by the new stocking-like device.
The mesh stocking is still experimental but its maker, Acorn Cardiovascular Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., already has approval to sell it in Europe and will seek the same from the federal Food and Drug Administration early next year.
For an additional info, please go to the Acorn Cardiovascular Inc. web site.