SouthNassau Among First to Implant World’s Smallest, Thinnest ICD to TreatHeart Failure, Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death
Oceanside, New York– SouthNassau Communities Hospital’s Center for Cardiovascular Health is amongthe first in the U.S. and the first hospital on Long Island to treat patientswith a recently FDA approved implantable cardioverterdefibrillator (ICD) to treat heart failure and prevent sudden cardiacdeath. The device is recognized as the world’s smallest andthinnest.
“The new device allows me to choosemultiple therapeutic options to match the specific patient needs,” saidLawrence Kanner, MD, FACC, director of Electrophysiology and ArrhythmiaServices at South Nassau. “It isalso a high-energy device that offers advanced battery technology withexcellent longevity, and is backed by the longest warranty in the industry, upto 10 years.”
This next-generation device includes optionsto promote appropriate therapy, reduce right ventricular pacing, and improvepatient management. Additionally, the device streamlines the implantprocedure with the new standard defibrillation connection system. Theconnector system is designed to reduce the time and number of steps required for the implant procedure, combiningthree separate lead terminals into one integrated connector and reducing thenumber of connections and setscrews needed in the device header. Thiskeeps the device smaller and minimizes unnecessary bulk in the surgical pocket.
ICDs and CardiacResynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRT-D) have been proven inclinical studies to save and extend lives by preventing sudden cardiac death(SCD) and treating heart failure. Each year, SCD claims the lives of upto 460,000 people in the U.S.alone, and more people die from SCD than from lung cancer, breast cancer andAIDS combined.
Nearly 22 million people worldwide currentlysuffer from heart failure, a debilitating condition in which the heart weakensand gradually loses the ability to pump blood effectively. Approximatelyone million new cases of heart failure are diagnosed annually worldwide, makingit the most rapidly growing cardiovascular disorder.
In addition to ICDs, Dr. Kanner andelectrophysiologists at South Nassau use anarray of advanced technologies to provide timely, accurate diagnoses andtherapies to treat the range of cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms)and defibrillator maintenance. Services include diagnostic studies,implantation and testing of pacemakers, and radiofrequency catheter ablationfor the treatment of potentially fatal irregular heartbeats.
The Center for Cardiovascular Health also performsa wide range of coronary and peripheral interventional procedures, includingballoon angioplasty, stenting, and thrombolytic therapy. When providingballoon angioplasty in an emergency, the center averages a door-to-balloon-timeof approximately 68 minutes, which is 22 minutes faster than the medicallyrecommended door-to-balloon time benchmark of 90 minutes. Imagingspecialists at the center are well-versed in nuclear cardiology (whichgenerates images of the heart at work, during exercise, and at rest),echocardiogram via the trans-thoracic method (a non-invasive, highly accurate and quickassessment of the overall health of the heart in which a probe is placed on thechest wall of the patient to produce images of the heart), and transesophageal echocardiogram (which uses a specialized probe containingan ultrasound transducer at its tip that is passed into the esophagus and isused to provide clear views of areas of the heart that would be difficult toview transthoracically). The center’s cardiac imaging services also include stress echocardiogram(which involves exercising on a treadmill or stationary bicycle while thepatient is monitored by technology using high-frequency sound waves thatproduces a graphic outline of the heart's movement, valves, and chambers) anddiagnostic peripheral vascular ultrasound (noninvasive diagnostic techniqueused to evaluate the health of blood vessels) for patients with peripheralarterial disease.
South Nassau CommunitiesHospital is oneof the region’s largest hospitals, with 435 beds, more than 900physicians and 2,900 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY,the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that providesstate-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management,mental health and emergency services. In addition to its extensiveoutpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and electiveangioplasty and is the only hospital on Long Islandwith the Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® Perfexion radiosurgerytechnologies. South Nassau is a designated StrokeCenter by the New York StateDepartment of Health and ComprehensiveCommunity CancerCenter by the American Collegeof Surgeons and is recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence bythe American Societyfor Metabolic and BariatricSurgery. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.
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