HEART FAILURE
An implanted pump may allow for longer and better lives.
• THE QUESTION People with advanced heart failure often are confined to a bed or chair because they have severe difficulty breathing. The vast majority have no hope of getting a heart transplant. Might implanting a mechanical heart pump improve their life?
• THIS STUDY randomly assigned 129 people with advanced heart failure to have a pump, called a left ventricular assist device, implanted or to receive cardiologist-supervised treatment designed to reduce suffering. Nearly three-fourths of the participants were so sick that they were already taking intravenous medications to improve their heart's pumping ability. Of those getting intravenous drugs, 49 percent who received a pump were alive after one year, compared with 24 percent of the others. Among those who did not need intravenous medication, one-year survival was 57 percent with the pump and 40 percent without it. People who received a pump also reported an improved quality of life.
_____The Heart_____
•
All Right, Break It Up (The Washington Post, Aug 24, 2004)
•
Number of Americans Who Have High Blood Pressure Up Sharply (The Washington Post, Aug 24, 2004)
•
Statins Cut Diabetics' Risk of Heart Attacks, Study Finds (The Washington Post, Aug 20, 2004)
•
Heart Disease Differs in Women (The Washington Post, Aug 8, 2004)
•
United Therapeutics Reports Profit (The Washington Post, Aug 4, 2004)
•
More Heart News
|
| |
|
• WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? People with heart failure, a condition in which the heart does not pump blood adequately through the body. The more advanced the disease, the more it restricts daily life. About 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with heart failure.
• CAVEATS A new generation of mechanical pumps has replaced the type used in this study, which was funded in part by Thoratec Corp., a pump maker.
• BOTTOM LINE People with advanced heart failure may want to ask their cardiologist about an implantable heart pump.
• FIND THIS STUDY Aug. 17 issue of Circulation; abstract available online at circ.ahajournals.org.
• LEARN MORE ABOUT heart failure at www.nhlbi.nih.gov and www.americanheart.org.
DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS
Elastic stockings may prevent complications of leg clots.
• THE QUESTION People with deep vein thrombosis who have a blood clot in a leg vein often later develop post-thrombotic syndrome, which is marked by pain, swelling, cramping, numbness, skin discoloration, ulcers and other symptoms. Doctors generally suggest compression stockings when this occurs. Could this syndrome be prevented by wearing the stockings before any symptoms develop?
