COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first site in the U.S. to enroll a patient in an international trial testing whether a novel pacemaker programming strategy can ease symptoms and improve quality of life for people with heart failure.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), sometimes called "stiff heart failure," affects millions of people worldwide. Although the heart's pumping function appears normal, the muscle often becomes too stiff to fill properly, leaving patients short of breath, fatigued and limited in daily activities.
Pacemakers are routinely used to stimulate hearts that beat too slowly. The trial, initiated by Medtronic, compares a personalized pacing approach that slightly accelerates the heart rate in a tailored fashion to as-needed backup pacing. The aim is to improve breathing, stamina and overall well-being by heart rate modulation delivered in a way that optimizes overall cardiac performance.
"This trial takes on one of the hardest-to-treat type of heart failure," said heart failure specialist Rami Kahwash, MD, director of Ohio State's heart and vascular research and professor of clinical medicine. "Turning heart rhythm into a therapeutic pathway for HFpEF is what makes this study so novel. It could finally bring relief to patients who today have very few options."
Mahmoud Houmsse, MD, electrophysiologist and clinical professor of internal medicine, performed the procedure last week.
"From a patient's perspective, the implant looks no different from a routine pacemaker procedure. What sets this apart is the programming, which gently raises the heart rate in a targeted way. That capability may help patients feel stronger and more comfortable in their daily lives," said Houmsse, the trial's site principal investigator.
Ohio State has long been at the forefront of linking rhythm management and heart failure care, laying the groundwork for trials like ELEVATE-HFpEF. Researchers now hope to show that pacing technology, applied in a more individualized way, can open new treatment possibilities.
"We've known for decades that heart rhythm and heart failure symptoms are tightly linked. Now we can try to individualize the pacing technology, potentially opening new frontiers for how we manage heart failure," said John Hummel, MD, electrophysiologist, professor of clinical medicine and director of electrophysiology research.
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