Mercy Hospital Enrolls First Patient into CHAMPION Study

The latest in life-saving technology to prevent heart failure is currently being tested at Mercy Hospital. In January, Mercy Hospital enrolled its first patient into a clinical trial of a wireless pressure sensor that helps to monitor and detect heart failure (HF) from the comfort of the patient’s own home. This pivotal clinical study known as CHAMPION (CardioMEMS Heart Sensor Allows Monitoring of Pressure to Improve Outcomes in NYHA Class III Patients) is the first of its kind to be conducted in South Florida.

The wireless heart failure sensor, designed and developed by CardioMEMS, Inc, is a proprietary miniature device which is implanted into the patient’s pulmonary artery using a simple, catheter-based procedure. The first implant at Mercy Hospital was performed under the direction of Javier Jimenez, M.D., principal investigator and director of the Miami Center for Cardiovascular Disease. The study is designed to test the safety and effectiveness of the HF Pressure Measurement System in order to reduce the number of HF-related hospitalizations in the future.

From the comfort of their own home, the patients use a pillow-like electronic device on which to lie while it collects the data from the heart. The data is immediately transmitted to the implanting physician’s PDA. The trial studies whether this data can be used by physicians to help determine the appropriate medical treatment, and if this might result in a reduction in hospitalizations for heart failure patients.

“A new concept in the care of heart failure patients has emerged by combining nanotechnology and telemedicine. This technology allows unprecedented monitoring of in-vivo data anywhere and anytime,” stated Dr. Jimenez.

Approximately 124 patients nationwide have been enrolled in this pivotal study of this promising new technology since its initiation in September 2007. The Co-Principal Investigators of the CHAMPION pivotal trial are Philip Adamson, M.D., director of the Heart Failure Institute, Oklahoma Heart Institute and William Abraham, M.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center.