What is it about?
Patients with severe pulmonary hypertension develop progression of their condition despite maximum treatment with drugs. Creating a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart was considered an option for treating these patients. However, it was not possible without a dedicated device to create such a hole. making a hole with precise size was not possible with balloon stretching alone. Some of the patients who received balloon dilatation alone developed complications or had to have repeated procedures because the holes closed later. Now there is dedicated device called the Occlutech AFR device which can create a precise communication. This study is evaluating the outcome of using this device in severely ill patients with pulmonary hypertension on a compassionate use basis.
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Why is it important?
The finding of this study is extremely important as it shows this device can be safely deployed and gives significant improvement . Those patients who received the device could walk and exercise better and did not have any further episodes of collapses which was present in all who received the device.
Perspectives
For the first time we have a dedicated device to create a hole in the heart with very specific dimensions. This would help many patients waiting for transplantation or those who cannot have a transplantation by improving their quality of life.
Dr Joseph Vettukattil
Helen devos children's hospital
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Atrial septostomy with a predefined diameter using a novel occlutech atrial flow regulator improves symptoms and cardiac index in patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/ccd.27233.
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