New Device Offers Hope For People With Heart Failure

(CNN) — A tiny new device is offering hope of a better life for people with severe heart failure, reducing hospitalization rates and improving mortality risk within two years of treatment, a new study finds. Heart failure affects an estimated 5.7 million Americans and more than 26 million people globally, causing shortness of breath and tiredness among those affected as their heart struggles to pump blood around the body. One cause of severe heart failure that currently has a poor prognosis is a leaky valve, particularly the leakage of the mitral valve, which control’s blood flow in the left part of the heart. When leakage is severe, the heart can enlarge. Estimated to affect more than two million people in the US, failure of the mitral valve causes blood to flow backwards when pumped out, meaning it can’t reach the rest of the body efficiently. But a new device — called a MitraClip — clips the faulty valve back together, helping it work properly and pump blood out of the heart. It has now shown promising results in the study published Sunday. The MitraClip. (Image credit: Abbott) Drugs are available to ease symptoms of a leaky mitral valve, but the long-term effects are unknown, the authors write. Surgery is also an option, and can be curative, but brings significant risk of complications, as patients are often older and more frail. Implanting the MitraClip is minimally invasive, with the device transferred up through a small incision in the gr...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News Heart Failure Local TV Source Type: news