MassDevice is reporting that CardioKinetix (Menlo Park, CA) was cleared by European regulators to offer all available sizes of the company’s Parachute percutaneous left ventricular partitioning device.
The device, intended to address ischemic heart failure due to a myocardial infarction, is delivered via catheter to the ventricle. It reduces the volume within the ventricle and isolates functional heart muscle to increase its pumping efficiency.
From the product page:
Volume Reduction
The Parachute™ implant partitions the damaged muscle, isolating the non-functional muscle segment from the functional segment, which decreases the overall volume.
Pressure ReductionBy reducing the overall volume of the left ventricle with the Parachute, the required pressure to fill the left ventricle is lowered. High filling pressures result in fluid retention in the lungs, pulmonary edema, causing shortness of breath.
Partitions the Damaged Heart MuscleWhen the Parachute partitions the damaged muscle, the functional segment performs better during each heartbeat. The increased performance is due to the viable heart muscle being properly stretched. Prior to the PARACHUTE procedure, the damaged heart wall was being stretched since it had the least amount of resistance, but unfortunately could not contract because the muscle was non-functional.
Restores Torsional ContractionBecause the Parachute is anchored into functioning heart muscle, the torsional contraction a normal heart performs during each beat is translated down to the apex through the device.
Increased Apical EjectionBecause the Parachute is anchored into functioning heart muscle, the implant now contracts during each beat which results in blood being ejected from the apex.
Restores Conical ShapePatient’s that are experiencing heart failure where the heart has remodeled, or enlarged, take on a round shape instead of the natural conical shape. With a round shape and malfunctioning apex, blood will settle in the bottom of the heart. When the Parachute is implanted, the apex now has a conical shape and contracts to allow blood to circulate more closely to a normal functioning left ventricle.
Product page: Parachute…
(hat tip: MassDevice)
