New device aids ailing hearts

http://wwlp.com/2014/10/08/new-device-aids-ailing-hearts/

WCMH) – An avid cook, Richard Jacob had to put everything on hold after a massive heart attack nearly killed him at age 43.
Richard survived, but was left with severe heart failure so bad he could barely walk across the room. “It got to a point where I was sleeping 18 hours a day,” he recalls.
Dr. Bill Abraham, a cardiologist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, turned to something new. Richard was the first in the country to have C-Pulse pump implanted in his chest.
It’s a battery powered device to boost circulation in those with advanced heart failure whose hearts can no longer pump enough blood.
“The device itself is a cuff that wraps around the aorta, the main blood vessel that delivers blood to the rest of the body, and it has a balloon that pumps in sync with the heart,” Dr. Abraham explains.
Dr. Abraham says it’s a minimally invasive surgery and for those who’ve had other treatments fail. The pilot study, just released, shows patients felt better, were able to exercise and their quality of life improved.
C-Pulse helped Richard make it to a heart transplant and he’s back to working and exercising.