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Heart failure is a disease in which the heart muscle is weakened and unable to pump blood normally. This disease affects more than 5 million people in the United States. If left untreated, the effects of heart failure can be disabling, depleting a person’s everyday functions. However, with today’s medical advancements, people with heart failure can often live a full life with few limiting symptoms.

“Heart failure can be caused by a heart attack, high blood pressure, a virus or other unknown causes,” says John Wylie, M.D., Cardiac Electrophysiologist at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. In some people, the weakened heart muscle pumps out of sync – meaning that the four walls of the heart do not work in a coordinated fashion.

Medication is the primary treatment for heart failure, but pacemakers and defibrillators are two devices used to treat patients with this condition. “Pacemakers treat slow heart rhythms and coordinate the top and bottom of the heart’s pumping mechanism,” says Dr. Wylie. “Defibrillators do the same thing, but also have the ability to apply a shock to the heart if there is a fast and potentially lethal arrhythmia.” The defibrillator is similar to the paddles applied by an emergency medical technician when someone goes into cardiac arrest, except it is implanted inside the body.

“Most pacemakers and defibrillators have one wire that is implanted into the atrium, the top chamber of the heart, and a second wire that goes into the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs,” says Dr. Wylie. “Some patients with heart failure may benefit from a special kind of pacemaker/defibrillator that has a third wire implanted into the left side of the heart, which pumps blood to the entire body.” This is called biventricular pacing, which helps to re-coordinate the heart’s pumping function.

The biventricular pacemaker/defibrillator is always functioning to help the heart pump more efficiently. “Even though the heart may still be weak, it is no longer out of sync,” says Dr. Wylie. “Re-synchronizing the heart’s pumping function can significantly improve the symptoms of heart failure, which include trouble breathing, fatigue, weakness and swelling in the legs.”

Pacemaker and defibrillator implantation is a minimally invasive procedure that requires about a 3-inch incision in the shoulder. “The wires are passed down to the heart through a vein in the shoulder with X-ray guidance,” says Dr. Wylie. “The wires are connected to the pacemaker or defibrillator, which is about half the size of a deck of playing cards.”

At Mount Auburn Hospital, patients are able to receive the most advanced procedures in a more personal setting. “Medical device therapy for heart failure has improved dramatically over the last decade,” says Dr. Wylie. “We’ve adopted these advancements and a lot of our patients with heart failure have been able to have a better quality of life.”

To schedule an appointment with one of Mount Auburn Hospital’s cardiac specialists, call 617-499-5094.