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Pacemaker-Like Device Restores Heart Function in Cancer Survivors

An implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device successfully restored heart function in a group of cancer survivors who had suffered from heart failure as a result of chemotherapy. The device was evaluated in a small clinical trial led by the University of Rochester Medical Center  . The trial was reported in a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association  . Called the MADIT-CHIC study, it was the first of its kind to evaluate if cardiac resynchronization therapy could improve heart function in patients with congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy, which is an enlargement of the heart due to chemotherapy side effects. After six months with the implanted CRT devices, the 30 patients who received the therapy experienced significant improvement.

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    00:00:00 >> I was hooked up to so many machines that night that everything beeped and I just had nothing to do but think about am I going to get through this and wake up in the morning, you know. It was congestive heart failure due to the chemo that I had received in 2008. I went through six months of very intense chemo. I recovered from all that and was living normally. It was a relief to be done with everything I went through and know that I could get back to normal.

    00:00:27 And had another grandchild, so I had more of them to play with and [laughs]. >> Patients that have been exposed to chemotherapy can manifest signs of heart disease as late as 15 and 20 years after their exposure. It causes the heart muscle to overdose on calcium what causes the heart muscle to potentially break down and burst. >> The first thought that went through my head is, "I got to beat this.

    00:00:56 I beat cancer. I'm going to beat this." >> After about six months, we found that her heart function had not dramatically improved and her heart remained very large. I started to talk to her about this really new and exciting clinical trial. >> So this clinical trial focused on patients who survived cancer, and following the cancer treatment, they developed heart failure symptoms.

    00:01:26 We wanted to look at the effects and the benefits of a new device that is called Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy. So when you look at the heart here, it's not pumping at the same time. It's very inefficient. It creates heart failure. >> We tried to have both sides of the heart working better together. >> I went the next day, and they implanted it, kept me all night and let me come home.

    00:01:55 >> Six months later, the heart is pumping much more effectively and in a much more synchronized way. >> Her heart size had returned back to normal. >> I feel great. I can do my stairs. I work out at the gym three days a week. >> And this gives hope for them. It gives encouragement for them to reengage with life and live it to the fullest. [ Music ]