Heart failure is a condition that impacts around 6.5 million Americans, including Terry Biser.
The disabled veteran already had two heart stents when his cardiologist noticed his heart was failing to pump enough blood around his body to meets its needs.
“The ECHO test showed my heart output was down to 30 to 35 percent,” Terry says. “I was short of breath, very winded and it was just tough breathing. My mobility was also going downhill very fast.”
That’s when Terry was sent to see Jeff Senfield, MD, an electrophysiologist in our Greenville market. An electrophysiologist is a type of cardiologist that specializes in treating issues with the heart’s electrical system.
“That’s when he told me about the CCM procedure and going home, my wife and I just looked at each other and said that’s what we want – this one,” Terry recalls.
CCM stands for cardiac contractility modulation. It’s a type of therapy that is delivered to the heart through Impulse Dynamics’ minimally invasive, implantable device – the Optimizer® Smart Mini. The device provides precisely timed electrical pulses to the heart just after it contracts and is designed to improve contraction of the heart, allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the body.
It’s similar in size to a pacemaker and is implanted during a minimally invasive procedure while the patient is under light sedation. During the procedure, the device is put under the skin of the upper chest, along with electrical leads that are placed in the heart’s right ventricle. The implanted device then sends electrical pulses to the heart muscle for a total of five hours a day, in one-hour treatments separated by regular intervals. It also offers providers diagnostic monitoring that gives important clinical insights to assist in managing patients with heart failure.
“This treatment option provides hope, as it can help relieve many of their symptoms in the short and long term and allows us to better manage their disease over the long term,” Dr. Senfield explains. “Studies have shown a greater than 80 percent response rate, and it has been shown to increase the ejection fraction, or the squeeze of the heart.”
Terry had his procedure in November of 2023 and is already noticing the benefits.
“My heart output is back up to 97 percent and I’m just doing wonderfully well,” he shares. “My wife and I joined the YMCA and we’re going to do some walking and get back in shape so we can get back to doing the thing we love – travel. We already have four to five places on our list that we want to go.”
Do you live in the Greenville, SC area? To find out if the Optimizer® Smart Mini and CCM therapy are right for you or someone you love, call Bon Secours Upstate Cardiology at 864-235-7665.
Want to learn more about your heart health? Take our online heart risk assessment today.
Also, learn about the heart and vascular care services we provide at Bon Secours.
