Heart shrinking trial to combat heart failure to begin

A trial using electricity to shrink the hearts of patients with heart failure is about to start in Liverpool

It will involve electrically stimulating one of the nerves leading to the heart which it is hoped could shrink the heart and improve life expectancy

This is the first trial of the technique in humans after it was shown to keep rats and dogs alive for longer

This first patient will be operated on in the next few days

The heart pumps blood around the body and when it fails to do this properly people can become tired and out of breath far more quickly For some patients it feels like running a marathon when they are only sitting in an armchair

Heart failure affects around 900000 people in the UK and can be the result of high blood pressure dead heart muscle after a heart attack or a genetic condition

Bigger and bigger
As the heart loses its ability to pump it fills with too much blood and becomes stretched over time The more the heart enlarges the worse the symptoms

Surgeons at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and The Royal Liverpool University Hospital hope to reverse the damage

They will fit a device similar to a pacemaker to the vagus nerve which runs to the heart Surgeons said the electrical stimulation should quotprotect the heartquot from the effects of the hormone adrenaline

Adrenaline makes the heart pump harder and faster this is one of the bodys responses to heart failure but doctors say it becomes toxic over time and damages the heart further

The idea is that by shielding the heart it will stop enlarging and begin to shrink

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Being the first person to have this device implanted in Liverpool was a huge decision hopefully it will improve my quality of life

Carl Jordan
First patient
Dr Jay Wright a consultant cardiologist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital told the BBC quotWere hoping it will shrink the heart but it might not be to normal sizequot

He said shrinkage quotwould lead to improvement in symptoms we know that the bigger the heart the worse the symptomsquot

Nearly 100 patients will take part in the trial at 30 hospitals around the world

The first will be Carl Jordan who used to be a paramedic He has had several heart attacks which have damaged his heart causing it to become enlarged

He said quotBeing the first person to have this device implanted in Liverpool was a huge decision

quotMy quality of life at the moment is not great because of the restrictions my condition has imposed on me especially the breathing problem as some days this is quite severe and getting worse

quotAnother factor is I have a young family who although I am the one with the illness they too are living with it and see every day what it can do to me so hopefully it will improve my quality of life as well as the lives of othersquot

Date : 28 Apr, 2012
Reference : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17870314

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