Cardiostim Symposium Demonstrates BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring® Advantages for Effective Management of Heart Failure Patients
Remote Monitoring Greatly Improves Patients’ Clinical Results While Streamlining Physician Workflow
NICE, France, June 19, 2014 – During a scientific symposium at this year’s Cardiostim Congress, Dr. Gerhard Hindricks of the Heart Center, University of Leipzig, Germany, presented further evidence that BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring® considerably improves heart failure patients’ clinical results. Dr. Hindricks, lead investigator for the IN-TIME study, defined the early detection and intervention afforded by Home Monitoring as crucial in optimizing patient treatment and thereby reducing mortality rates.
The IN-TIME study results showed a remarkable reduction of over 50 percent in all-cause mortality in heart failure patients with implant-based Home Monitoring, regardless of whether they had an implantable defibrillator (ICD) or a cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D).1
“Due to the complexity of this chronic condition, heart failure can be difficult to manage,” commented Dr. Hindricks. “The IN-TIME study demonstrates that by transmitting timely information about changes in patient status, Home Monitoring enables physicians to react quickly and optimize patient therapy. Home Monitoring is an essential tool in managing heart failure patients with ICD and CRT-D devices.”
Dr. Hindricks also emphasized the positive role of Home Monitoring in identifying patients who do not respond to CRT. Non-response is often due to atrial fibrillation (AF), as rapid AV conduction makes it more difficult to resynchronize the heart. In these cases, Home Monitoring proves especially beneficial, as early detection of AF can identify non-responders to CRT. The sooner physicians become aware of AF, the sooner they can adjust patient therapy. This in turn can increase the success rate of CRT.
Following Dr. Hindrick’s presentation, Dr. Jeanne E. Poole, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, addressed treatment options for ensuring effective CRT. She underscored how rate control and cardioversion approaches help revert patients to a healthy sinus rhythm and improve synchronization. Next, Dr. Christian Sticherling, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, discussed ablation of the AV node to ensure 100 percent effective CRT pacing.
Before the final wrap-up and discussion, Philipp Sommer, University of Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany, detailed how physicians can seamlessly integrate Home Monitoring into clinical routines, thereby improving workflow. “Home Monitoring optimizes and streamlines my clinic’s workflow so that we can focus our energy on the patients who need us most. Seeing patients at the right time is of tremendous benefit to them, allowing us to react quickly to their needs and increasing our clinic’s efficiency,” he explained.
BIOTRONIK – Specialized in Heart Failure Therapy
One of the world’s leading manufacturers of cardio- and endovascular medical devices, BIOTRONIK is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and represented in over 100 countries by its global workforce of more than 5,600 employees. With high-quality Sentus and Corox leads, BIOTRONIK has one of the broadest CRT lead portfolios on the market and offers the only products that allow heart failure patients with a CRT device to undergo MRI scans. With BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring®, physicians can remotely monitor their heart failure patients’ clinical and device status for proven early detection and safe follow-up reduction. Physicians can adapt therapies early and prevent the worsening of underlying conditions, stroke or hospitalization.
For more information, visit: www.biotronik.com
Contact:
Manuela Schildwächter
Senior Manager PR & Communications
BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG
Woermannkehre 1
12359 Berlin, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 30 68905 1414
Email: presse@biotronik.com
References:
1 IN-TIME results demonstrating a more than 50 percent reduction in mortality were presented at ESC 2013. Sub-analysis results demonstrating remote monitoring benefits for both ICD and CRT-D patients were presented at the 2014 ESC HF congress, both by Dr. Hindricks.