CREMONA – The Cardiology of Cremona also uses the “life-saving vest” to prevent the risk of sudden cardiac death on an arrhythmic basis. It is a wearable defibrillator, applied for the first time in Cremona on a 53-year-old patient. «The woman was hospitalized for acute heart failure, secondary to severe left ventricular dysfunction, therefore at high risk of even fatal arrhythmias», explains the doctor Simone Verdecardiologist of the department (direct by Dr Gian Battista Danzi).
Doctors Gian Battista Danzi and Simone Verde
In cases like this, the wearable defibrillator acts as a “bridge”, for accompany the patient in the therapeutic process, avoiding risks and more invasive interventions. «This device is already widely used in the United States and other European countries, including Italy», continues Verde. «From today Cremona is among the Italian centers that will be able to use it selected patientsespecially young people, to monitor their health status after critical events and recognize a life-threatening arrhythmia early.”
PREVENT UP TO 90 DAYS
There ventricular fibrillation it is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death. This is a form of arrhythmia that involves a chaotic, rapid and ineffective contraction of the muscle fibers that make up the ventricles. «Clinical studies and trials have shown that in patients suffering from newly discovered severe left ventricular dysfunction, whatever the cause, the incidence of this arrhythmia is maximum in the first thirty days after hospital discharge», comments the cardiologist. «83% of deaths due to sudden related deaths occur after returning home. The risk progressively reduces in the following months, although an alert for up to 90 days is recommended.”
SAFE AND EFFECTIVE
For this reason, in the phase following the first diagnosis it is important to understand whether pharmacological therapies are able to improve the functionality of the heart. «The most recent scientific evidence demonstrates how the wearable defibrillator is safe and effectivewith an important impact in terms of prevention» explains Verde.
The Cremona Cardiology team
The equipment is composed of a wearable vest (weighs about one kilo), in which electrodes and defibrillation plates are inserted, all connected to a small recorder positioned around the waist or over the shoulder. It must be worn at all times, day and night, to monitor the patient’s heart 24 hours a day and control cardiac activity even remotely. When necessary, it activates automatically (pre-warning the person) and delivers a discharge of electric current to restore the regular heart rhythm.
AVOID INVASIVE INTERVENTIONS
In addition to protecting the patient, the device allows the doctor to keep the situation under control and gain time to identify the optimal therapy, avoiding the implantation of a permanent cardiac defibrillator where possible. «Although the latter is an undisputed life saver – comments Verde – it can be an uncomfortable life partner, because it can lead to limitations in the work and sporting fields as well as being the Of possible infections future”.
«The wearable defibrillator is one protection which from today we can also offer in Cremona – concludes the doctor Gian Battista Danzi, director of Cardiology – to guarantee survival and at the same time make the most of pharmacological therapies, reducing hospitalization times and treatment costs. Once regular cardiac function has been recovered and the underlying causes of the arrhythmia have been treated, the patient will be able to remove the vest and return to their everyday life.”
