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Failing Hearts Can Be Monitored from Home, Largo Medical Center Says

Heart Monitor | Health and Medicine | Health Care

Largo Medical Center says it’s the first hospital in the Tampa Bay area to offer the new technology.

LARGO – Largo Medical Center is the first hospital in the Tampa Bay Area to implant a new miniaturized, wireless monitoring sensor to manage heart failure while a patient is at home.

The CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is the first and only FDA-approved monitoring device proven to significantly reduce hospital admissions when used by physicians to manage heart failure. This technologically advanced system features a sensor that is implanted into the pulmonary artery during a non-surgical procedure to directly measure pulmonary artery pressure.

“Increased pulmonary artery pressures appear before weight and blood pressure changes, which are often used as indirect measures of worsening heart failure,” said Merrill Krolick, MD, interventional cardiologist at Largo Medical Center. “After the team and I implant one of these hi-tech sensors into one of our patients, it transmits daily readings to me, giving the patient a more personalized and proactive management of their condition, reducing their likelihood of hospitalization.”

Krolick is the first physician in the area to implant the device. He said the system’s sensor is designed to last the lifetime of the patient and doesn’t require batteries. There is no pain or sensation for the patient during the readings.

“This is great news for our patients. We continue to be able to provide our physicians with options like this tool, enabling them to treat conditions like heart failure quicker than ever before,” said Anthony Degina, chief executive officer at Largo Medical. “And that means we are continuing to provide the compassionate care the staff at Largo Medical Center gets truly excited about.”

Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5.1 million Americans have heart failure, with 670,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Patients with heart failure are frequently hospitalized, have a reduced quality of life and face a higher risk of death.

For information about Largo Medical Center, go to largomedical.com.

Largo Medical Center | Health Care | Heart Attack | Heart Care | Medicine | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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