New Orleans, LA — Out of 4,852 facilities analyzed for the 2010-11 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings, only 3 percent earned a ranking in any of the 16 specialties. Ochsner, by contrast, earned a ranking in seven specialty categories, including ranking 23rd in Heart & Heart Surgery. The John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute (JOHVI) is a comprehensive cardiac and peripheral vascular care center, which has earned national and international recognition for heart disease management. Ochsner’s physicians, medical staff and research teams collaborate to develop innovative, high quality and comprehensive treatments for cardiovascular disease, utilizing modern diagnostic technologies.
Cardiology Echocardiography Lab First in State to be accredited in all three ICAEL disciplines:
Ochsner proudly announces that the Ochsner Medical Center Cardiology Echocardiography lab has received full, three-year accreditation from the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). The lab, where technicians utilize ultrasound technology to gauge overall heart health and function, is the first in Louisiana to receive full accreditation in all three ICAEL accredited disciplines: adult transthoracic, adult transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and adult stress testing.
“To earn accreditation in all three disciplines is truly remarkable,” says Richard Milani, MD, FACC, FAHA – Ochsner Health System Vice Chairman for Cardiovascular Diseases. “This is a testament to the commitment to quality that each member of our cardiology team exemplifies.” To earn accreditation Ochsner Medical Center underwent a voluntary ICAEL survey which included a comprehensive self-evaluation, a review of laboratory operations and case studies, and a peer-review by accrediting staff.
New Wearable “LifeVest” Improves High - Risk Cardiac Patient Care at Ochsner:
When 56 year-old Geraldine of Westwego, LA, came to Ochsner Medical Center to have her implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) removed due to a severe infection, she did not expect that it would be during the three months of healing time that she would suffer from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). SCA is a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 325,000 deaths each year, which is a daunting statistic for high-risk patients and their families.
Thankfully, Dr. Daniel Morin, a Cardiac Electrophysiologist, had recommended that Geraldine wear the LifeVest, a new wearable external defibrillator, to ensure her safety while her infection was treated. The LifeVest detected her heart’s dangerous rhythm and automatically delivered a life-saving shock. Because of this, Geraldine’s life is the 527th life saved across the country and the first one in this area.
Dr. Morin is a firm believer in this new technology. He recommends the device to patients because the LifeVest has a 98% first treatment shock success rate for resuscitating patients with SCA. Dr. Morin elaborates, “Many patients and their families aren’t aware that when a person experiences these dangerous heart rhythms, their chances of survival decrease 10% per each minute that they don’t receive a life-saving shock. At five minutes, they have a 50% survival rate. At nine minutes, their chances of survival are less than 10%. Time is of the essence, as you can see. The LifeVest ensures that patients receive the necessary shock to stabilize their hearts in less than a minute and does not require any sort of bystander intervention.”
The Life Vest is the first and only wearable defibrillator in the market and was approved by the FDA in 2002. Its life-saving potential for patients who have recently had a heart attack continues to be evaluated in the multicenter VEST Trial. Ochsner Medical Center is a participant in the VEST Trial and is now one of the leading enrolling centers in the country.
Ochsner Performs First Local Enrollment in Clinical Trial to Improve Heart Failure Management:
Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans announced that it has implanted its first patient with a new investigational disease management system for patients with heart failure (HF). The system provides information on the pressure within the heart that allows patients to adjust their HF medications daily based on a physician-directed prescription plan and their current left atrial pressure (LAP). This innovative treatment approach is similar to the manner in which diabetes patients self-manage their insulin therapy.
The patient, a 58 year-old Woman from Lafitte, Louisiana, is the first person in Louisiana to receive this device. She is one of approximately five million Americans living with HF, a chronic condition that, for many, results in worsening symptoms and serial re-hospitalizations. The estimated direct and indirect cost of HF in the United States for 2009 was $37.2 billion. Heart failure occurs when the heart is only able to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands by elevating pressures within the heart. Progression of HF over a period of days is known as acute decompensation and is often precipitated by substantially elevated LAP.
High levels of LAP directly force excess fluid into the lungs causing congestive symptoms, most commonly breathlessness. Approximately 90% of patients admitted to a hospital for HF have pulmonary congestion related to elevated LAP. Episodes of pulmonary congestion have a high associated mortality rate and result in a downward spiral of progressive cardiac deterioration.
Clinicians commonly use the symptoms of HF, such as fatigue or shortness of breath, to determine a patient’s HF status and subsequent treatment; however, changes in HF symptoms are difficult to gauge and may be caused by other conditions. Left atrial pressure is considered the “gold standard” for HF measurement. Changes in LAP precede development of pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) and result in worsening HF symptoms.
“The LAPTOP trial is an exciting development in the management of heart failure. This device has the potential to allow the physician to individualize therapies and provide tighter control of the patient’s fluid status,” said Dr. Sammy Khatib, Electrophysiologist with Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, who is a Sub-Investigator and who implanted the device.
The LAPTOP-HF Left Atrial Pressure Monitoring to Optimize Heart Failure Therapy) trial, sponsored by medical device company St. Jude Medical, is a pivotal, randomized, controlled, prospective, multi-center clinical investigation to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the company’s implantable LAP HF management system. The system is being studied under an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Currently, there is no other means of obtaining LAP measurements outside the clinic or hospital setting.
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About Ochsner Health System
Ochsner Health System is southeast Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system with eight hospitals and over 38 health centers in Louisiana. Ochsner has been named the Consumer Choice for Healthcare in New Orleans for 15 consecutive years and is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a “Best Hospital” across seven specialty categories. Ochsner employs more than 12,500 employees, over 850 physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts over 300 clinical research trials annually. Ochsner Health System is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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