USA Health Performs System-First Barostim Procedure

USA Health University Hospital has performed its first Barostim implant procedure, providing a new treatment option to relieve symptoms in patients living with heart failure. Dr. W. Johnson Hardy, III, a fellowship-trained vascular surgeon at USA Health, performed the procedure at USA Health University Hospital. The procedure involved implanting a small device beneath the skin of the patient’s chest and neck to help manage symptoms associated with symptomatic systolic heart failure. Unlike other heart failure device therapies, Barostim contains no hardware in the heart or blood vessels. It works by electrically stimulating special receptors that tell the nervous system how to regulate heart, kidney and vascular function. Together, these effects reduce the heart’s workload and help it pump more efficiently, helping restore balance to the autonomic nervous system and improve the symptoms of heart failure. Barostim plus heart failure medications have been shown to improve activity level and quality of life.