Elliot Health System Offers New Early Warning Technology to Prevent Heart Failure

Elliot Cardiovascular Consultants now offers the CardioMEMS sensor. This tiny device enables cardiac patients to be monitored for worsening heart failure from the comfort of their home. Research indicates that patients living with heart failure have better outcomes when their therapy is guided by pulmonary pressure monitoring such as the CardioMEMS sensor, with a significant reduction in heart failure hospitalizations, emergency visits, and death.

The CardioMEMS sensor is intended for use by people experiencing Class II heart failure and those with blood tests indicating elevated biomarkers for worsening heart failure. The paperclip-sized device is placed during a minimally invasive procedure and monitors for pressure changes that indicate developing issues. The sensor wirelessly transmits readings each day to the patient’s physician in order for them to proactively make therapy changes to prevent worsening heart failure.

Dr. Carl Fier of Elliot Cardiovascular Consultants says he is excited to be able to offer this technology to The Elliot community. “By continuously monitoring the volume status of our heart failure patients with this device, we hope to proactively treat them in the comfort of their home, often before they are even beginning to have symptoms. The ability to offer this device to selected patients dovetails nicely with our suite of services offered to this vulnerable population, including intensive follow up with our heart failure certified nurses and nurse practitioners, in-home and in-office intravenous diuretic administration, and, when necessary, specialized inpatient pathways ensuring optimization of current guideline-directed heart failure therapies.”