Implantable Devices
Cardiac Monitoring via Cellular Signal
Holy Cross Health was the first in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties to offer the Medtronic MyCareLink™ Patient Monitor. MyCareLink Patient Monitor is indicated for use in the transfer of patient data from some Medtronic implantable cardiac devices. This patient monitor is a simplified remote monitoring system with global cellular technology that transmits patients’ cardiac device diagnostic data to their clinicians from nearly any location in the world where a cellular signal is available.
With this remote monitoring, it's as if your doctor can see you, without you seeing the doctor. You'll check in without coming in, regularly or whenever called for, from home or practically anywhere your monitor is set up. The monitor must be on and in range of the device in order to wirelessly receive data from your implanted device. Talk to your doctor to see if this technology is right for you.
CardioMEMS
The CardioMEMS™ HF System uses a miniaturized, wireless monitoring sensor that is implanted in the pulmonary artery (PA) during a minimally invasive procedure to directly measure PA pressure. The system allows patients to transmit PA pressure data from their homes to their health care providers allowing for personalized and proactive management to reduce the likelihood of hospitalization.
Heart Valve Replacement
A Heart Valve Replacement is necessary when one of the body's four heart valves become damaged. Heart valves control blood flow through the heart. Heart Valve Replacements are made from metal, plastic or tissue from cows, pigs or human donors. Damaged heart valves are a result of valvular defects, infection or when blood flow leaks or becomes obstructed.
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)
An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator is a small battery-operated device that monitors the heart's rhythm and provides appropriate treatment. If the heart beats too slowly, the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator can help the heart beat at a normal pace. If the heart begins to beat in a disorganized way, the device provides a shock to restore a normal rhythm. An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator may be needed if the heart is beating too slowly, too rapidly or if the muscle isn't pumping at all.
Implantable Wireless Cardiac Monitor: Reveal LINQ™
Holy Cross Health was the first hospital in Broward County to implant the Medtronic Reveal LINQ™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) System. ICMs are used to determine the cause of symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations and fainting; a recent study showed that the time to diagnosis is decreased by 79% for those patients with heart rhythm disorders who have implantable, long-term cardiac monitors as opposed to those who use non-implantable heart monitors.
At one third the size of a AAA battery, LINQ is the smallest wireless, long-term cardiac monitor available. It is 80 percent smaller than other cardiac monitors yet has 20 percent more data memory than its larger predecessor Reveal® XT and monitors a patient's heart for up to three years. The device is placed just beneath the skin through a small incision of less than one centimeter in the upper left side of the chest, and is often nearly invisible to the naked eye once inserted.
MitraClip™
Delivered through a minimally invasive catheter, Abbott’s MitraClip secures a portion of the leaflets of the mitral valve with an implanted clip, allowing the heart to pump blood more efficiently throughout the body, thereby relieving the symptoms of severe MR and improving patient quality of life. The transcatheter clip-based therapy has been used to treat more than 100,000 patients worldwide.
Pacemaker
A pacemaker is a small, battery operated device that helps maintain a normal heartbeat by sending electrical impulses to the heart. A pacemaker may be needed when the body's natural heartbeat is moving too slowly, signs of heart failure are noticed or during cardiac surgery.
Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD)
Holy Cross Health is among the first hospitals in South Florida to implant the Boston Scientific® S-ICD System, the world's first and only commercially available subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) for the treatment of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). SCA is an abrupt loss of heart function. Most episodes are caused by the rapid and/or chaotic activity of the heart known as ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.
Recent estimates show that approximately 850,000 people in the United States are at risk of SCA and indicated for an ICD device, but remain unprotected. The S-ICD System is intended to provide defibrillation therapy for the treatment of life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients who do not have symptomatic bradycardia, incessant ventricular tachycardia, or spontaneous, frequently recurring ventricular tachycardia that is reliably terminated with anti-tachycardia pacing.
Ventricular Assist Device (VAD)
A Ventricular Assist Device is an artificial heart that's powered by compressed air or battery power to give troubled ventricles a boost. A Ventricular Assist Device may be needed when medication doesn't work or while a patient is waiting for a heart transplant.
Holy Cross Health is a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) shared care facility, which means patients from other parts of the country may travel with peace of mind and good quality of life while away from their implant site because the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Center can manage their LVAD and heart failure while they are in South Florida. Located in Fort Lauderdale, we work very closely with implant sites around the country to ensure patients' quality of life.
WATCHMAN
The WATCHMAN procedure provides an alternative to oral blood-thinners for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The WATCHMAN procedure involves a one-time implant which provides protection from stroke that is comparable to warfarin (the most common blood thinner) without the risk of bleeding.
To implant WATCHMAN, your doctor makes a small cut in your upper leg and inserts a narrow tube, as done in a standard stent procedure. Your doctor then guides WATCHMAN into your heart’s LAA. The procedure is done under general anesthesia and takes about an hour. Patients commonly stay in the hospital overnight and leave the next day.