Could heart massage be the new treatment for heart failure?

By Brandie Umar - Executive Director of Content | August 24th, 2010

Heart failure is the most advanced stage of heart disease. It is estimated that over 5 million people in he USA alone suffer form the condition which if untreated can be fatal. Heart failure occurs when the heart valves stop pumping blood around the body efficiently; without correct blood supply, organs begin to fail and the body cannot function.

Anew treatment for heart failure is being trialled in centers in the USA and Canada; an inflatable cuff that would push the blood around the body alongside the heart, limiting the amount of work the heart needs to do. Known as C-Pulse, the cuff is wrapped around the heart. Inside the cuff is a balloon that is inflated and deflated as the heart fills with blood.

The cuff is connected to a sensor which monitors the hearts activity to determine whether the balloon needs to inflate or deflate. When blood enters the heart, the balloon inflates, pushing the blood around the heart through the aorta to the rest of the body. As the cuff deflates the aorta valve opens alowing the blood to leave the heart. The entire device is controlled by a battery powered control panel the patient must wear on the abdomen. The device connects to the control panel through a minute wire which is passed through the body from the abdomen to the heart.

The C-Pulse effectively limits the amount of work the heart has to do to keep blood flow continuous around the body.

Cardiologists hope the new device will help to limit the number of drugs a patient suffering from heart failure needs to take daily and could prove more effective than a pacemaker which is the current second stage treatment for heart failure. The revolutionary device does not take over the functioning of the heart, rather it massages the heart to stimulate the continuous blood flow needed to keep the body healthy.

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