BACKGROUND: The reduction of hospitalizations in patients with heart failure (HF) may have clinical and economical implications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a case-control study, we compared the number of hospital admissions for congestive HF during the same follow-up period in two homogeneous groups of patients, each consisting of 27 consecutive patients treated with biventricular pacing and back-up defibrillator (B-ICD) in our institution. The first group was implanted with an InSync Sentry, (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN, US), a B-ICD device with the OptiVol feature for monitoring intrathoracic fluid accumulation and equipped with an active acoustic alarm (Group 1); the second group was implanted with an InSync III Marquis (Medtronic), a B-ICD device with similar features except for the absence of the OptiVol (Group 2). Follow-up visits were performed at 3 month interval or in case of acoustic alarm. RESULTS: The patient clinical characteristics of the two groups were similar. In Group 1, with 359 +/- 98 days follow-up, 12 of the 27 patients, experienced 18 OptiVol alarms with only one hospital admission for congestive HF occurring in a patient who ignored the acoustic alarm for 13 days. In Group 2, eight HF hospitalizations occurred in seven patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The OptiVol feature is a useful tool for the clinical management of HF patients as it can result in early treatment during the pre-clinic stage of HF decompensation and in a significant reduction of hospital admissions for congestive HF.
BACKGROUND: The reduction of hospitalizations in patients with heart failure (HF) may have clinical and economical implications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a case-control study, we compared the number of hospital admissions for congestive HF during the same follow-up period in two homogeneous groups of patients, each consisting of 27 consecutive patients treated with biventricular pacing and back-up defibrillator (B-ICD) in our institution. The first group was implanted with an InSync Sentry, (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN, US), a B-ICD device with the OptiVol feature for monitoring intrathoracic fluid accumulation and equipped with an active acoustic alarm (Group 1); the second group was implanted with an InSync III Marquis (Medtronic), a B-ICD device with similar features except for the absence of the OptiVol (Group 2). Follow-up visits were performed at 3 month interval or in case of acoustic alarm. RESULTS: The patient clinical characteristics of the two groups were similar. In Group 1, with 359 +/- 98 days follow-up, 12 of the 27 patients, experienced 18 OptiVol alarms with only one hospital admission for congestive HF occurring in a patient who ignored the acoustic alarm for 13 days. In Group 2, eight HF hospitalizations occurred in seven patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The OptiVol feature is a useful tool for the clinical management of HF patients as it can result in early treatment during the pre-clinic stage of HF decompensation and in a significant reduction of hospital admissions for congestive HF.
Authors: Claudia Ypenburg; Jeroen J Bax; Ernst E van der Wall; Martin J Schalij; Lieselot van Erven Journal: Am J Cardiol Date: 2007-01-02 Impact factor: 2.778
Authors: John G F Cleland; Jean-Claude Daubert; Erland Erdmann; Nick Freemantle; Daniel Gras; Lukas Kappenberger; Luigi Tavazzi Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2005-03-07 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Wai Hong Wilson Tang; Eduardo N Warman; James W Johnson; Roy S Small; James Thomas Heywood Journal: Eur Heart J Date: 2012-06-07 Impact factor: 29.983