Implantable monitor may help manage diastolic heart failure

Washington, Dec 12 (ANI): An implantable haemodynamic monitor (IHM) may help to guide medical treatment in patients with diastolic heart failure (DHF), according to a new study.

The researchers, led by Michael R. Zile, MD, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, analysed data of patients with DHF who were enrolled in a larger randomised trial evaluating the IHM for heart failure.

The first COMPASS-HF study included 274 patients with all types of heart failure.

The original results showed that the risk of heart failure events was reduced by about 20 percent in patients treated with the IHM, although the difference was not statistically significant.

The new analysis focused on the subgroup of 70 patients with DHF. Patients were randomly assigned to receive the IHM, while the rest were managed without the IHM.

As in the main study, patients with DHF who received the IHM device had a 20 percent reduction in heart failure events, although the difference was not significant.

A 29 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure was also nonsignificant.

The IHM did lead to some significant changes in patient management, including more frequent adjustments in the dose of diuretics.

As in the larger study, the IHM device was safe in patients with DHF, with a low complication rate.

Based on the new analysis, there is as yet no evidence that using the IHM device to guide treatment reduces the risk of decompensation and heart failure events in patients with DHF.

However, patients with DHF receiving the IHM device show a trend toward lower rates of heart failure events, including hospitalisation related to heart failure.

The study is published in the December issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure. (ANI)