For the first time, a Vanderbilt Health patient has been implanted with a novel left atrial pressure monitoring device (the V-LAP device), part of a clinical trial being conducted at only five centers in the United States.
The V-LAP device allows medical teams to monitor the pressure inside a patient’s heart in real time, allowing them to make better decisions about the patient’s medications and improving outcomes, said Sandip Zalawadiya, MD, associate professor of Medicine and director of Heart Failure Remote Patient Management Devices. The device was implanted by Kashish Goel, MD, director of Transcatheter Heart Valve Interventions, in conjunction with Zalawadiya and team.
Zalawadiya noted that other than the V-LAP device, his team offers other devices (such as CardioMEMS and Cordella) that indirectly measure the pressures inside the heart.
“What is also unique about this novel left atrial pressure monitoring device is that it comes with a patient self-management portal which allows patients to know their own heart pressures and to change their medications on their own based on pre-specified recommendations of their physicians,” Zalawadiya said. “This technology puts patients in control of their own health, similar to how they manage blood glucose levels for diabetes. As we embark on this journey of improving care for heart failure patients, this technology is moving us forward by empowering patients.”
Wesley Crutcher of Paducah, Kentucky, received the device, which he said gives him peace of mind about his heart failure. It means Crutcher, who lives two hours away, doesn’t have to drive to the Main Campus as often for in-person appointments for tests such as heart catheterizations, and his medical team knows what’s going on with his heart. Also, he can now change his medications based on the notifications from his phone.
Since its inception in late 2019, the Heart Failure Remote Patient Management Devices Program has helped more than 100 heart failure patients with such implantable devices. The procedure to implant this novel device takes an average of 45-60 minutes to perform.
Crutcher said he’s grateful for the peace of mind. He has undergone six bypass surgeries since his heart failure developed in the late 1990s. His local doctor recommended he see Zalawadiya. Crutcher noted he also has an implantable defibrillator, which remotely monitors other aspects of his heart.
“I’m hooked up all kinds of ways,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m a spy.”
