(left to right) Lorraine da Silva Campos, clinical sales representative for Barostim™; Joshua Larned, M.D., advanced heart failure specialist at Holy Cross Health; Handel Robinson, M.D., vascular surgeon at Holy Cross Health; and Dave Abesamis, account manager for Barostim™
Barostim™ Baroreflex Activation Therapy now offered at Holy Cross Health
August 5, 2024 – Holy Cross Health now offers Barostim™ Baroreflex Activation Therapy, the world’s first FDA-approved heart failure device to use neuromodulation – the power of the brain and nervous system – to improve the symptoms of patients with systolic heart failure. This therapy was designed to treat heart failure patients who may not be receiving adequate symptom relief from medications alone.
Elias Collado, M.D., advanced heart failure specialist at Holy Cross Health
Unlike other heart failure device therapies, Barostim contains no hardware in the heart or vasculature. It works by electrically stimulating baroreceptors – natural sensors located in the wall of the carotid artery – that tell the nervous system how to regulate heart, kidney and vascular function. These effects reduce the heart’s workload and help it pump more efficiently, helping to restore balance to the autonomic nervous system and improve the symptoms of heart failure. Barostim plus heart failure medications has been shown to improve exercise capacity, quality of life and NYHA class, helping patients return to their daily activities.¹
“At Holy Cross Health we continue to invest in innovative technologies to provide our patients with the highest level of medical care that will get them back on their feet and resuming normal life as quickly and fully as possible,” said Mark Doyle, president and chief executive officer at Holy Cross Health.
Watch this video to learn more about the technology.
As the first organization in Broward County to achieve The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification in Heart Failure, Holy Cross remains at the forefront of heart failure treatment. Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. Essentially, the heart can’t keep up with its workload. People with heart failure often experience shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in lower extremities, weakness and the reduced ability to perform physical activity. In the U.S., heart failure is estimated to affect 6.9 million adults and is expected to increase by 24% to nearly 8.5 million by 2030.² Overall, heart failure is associated with a four-fold increased risk of death and a six to nine times increased risk of sudden cardiac death.
Advanced heart failure specialists Joshua Larned, M.D. and Elias Collado, M.D. and vascular surgeon Handel Robinson, M.D. performed the first implant at Holy Cross Health. To schedule an appointment, call (954) 772-2136 for Dr. Larned or Dr. Collado and (954) 542-6770 for Dr. Robinson. All three Holy Cross Medical Group physicians are located at 4725 N. Federal Hwy. in Fort Lauderdale.
About Holy Cross Health
A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, not-for-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been recognized for six Types of Care in U.S. News and World Report’s 2024-25 Best Hospital rankings and was named among the 2024 America’s Best-In-State Hospitals by Newsweek. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as our community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, an urgent care center and more than 40 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit holy-cross.com. Connect @holycrossfl.
