Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific is one of the leading names of its sector with its solutions for the improvement of human health.  And one of those solutions is the cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator. Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator is usually decided to be used with heart failure treatment as a result of the increase in the risk of sudden death due to ventricular rhythm disorder. Sudden cardiac death is a result of sudden cardiac arrest and occurs in cases where the electrical issues in the heart cause dangerous levels of fast and irregular heart beats. Heart failure can be defined as the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to meet the needs of your body.

Boston Scientific is a pioneer brand that aims to provide implantable devices that have high quality and reliability. The heart works both as a mechanical pump and an electrical organ. It has the ability to beat as it generates electrical signals. These signals go through the electrical paths in the heart and lead to the muscle contraction that allows the blood to be pumped to the whole body.

Normally, these signals come from a small section of the heart called the sinoatrial (SA) node. This section is located on the upper right chamber, in other words, in the right atrium. When the SA node sends a signal to the atriums which are the two upper chambers of the heart, the atriums contract simultaneously and the contraction of the atriums fill the ventricles which are the two bottom chambers. As the electrical signal assumes the role of ensuring the contraction of the ventricles as it moves through the ventricles and the pumping of the blood into the body. What is felt as the heart beating is actually the contraction of the heart muscle and this circular procedure actually restarts after a short break.

There might be many reasons why the heart starts to fail. Damage in the muscles as a result of a heart attack might be a reason. It might also become weaker after pumping against the high pressure in the arteries for a long time. The heart muscle weakens with time and starts to grow. The atriums start to not be able to contract as strongly and in coordination as before. Consequently, the blood and oxygen flow in the body become insufficient. This situation where the heart is unable to pump blood effectively and fails to meet the body’s blood and oxygen needs is called heart failure.

People with heart failure might become short of breath, feel fatigue or dizziness or they might faint. Medical treatment is usually sought for the discomfort and symptoms of heart failure, however in some people, CRT-D devices might be needed to help the heart beat more effectively again.

Heart Failure and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-D)

Abnormal and irregular heartbeats called arrhythmia can be seen in people with heart failure. Arrhythmia can occur when there is a failure in the heart’s electrical system. If arrhythmia continues, t can prevent the heart from pumping enough blood to the body.

Another one of the arrhythmia types that can be encountered is ventricular tachycardia. In this type of arrhythmia, the electrical signals of your heart can come from one of the atriums instead of the SA node. Electrical signal might not go through the heart as it usually does and cause fast and sometimes irregular heartbeat. As the heart beats faster, less blood is pumped into the body. The person can feel loss of pulse or dizziness if the fast heartbeat continues. The person can faint or the heart can stop beating at the end. Ventricular tachycardia can be treated with medication in some cases. In other cases, in order to stop the abnormal signals, an external defibrillator or a CRT-D can be used to get the heart to go back to a more normal rhythm.

Another type of arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation. In this type of arrhythmia, irregular electrical signals can come from several points of the atriums. This causes a fast heartbeat. In some cases, the heart beats over 300 times a minute. Very little blood is pumped from the heart to the rest of the body in people with ventricular fibrillation disorder. A person can faint really quickly when the heart is in VF. Just like ventricular tachycardia, VF can also be treated with a defibrillator. A defibrillator generates an electric shock that goes through the heart. Shock stops the abnormal signals and allows the SA node to turn the heart back into a more normal rhythm.

The CRT-D system is a device that has been designed to monitor and treat your heart arrhythmias. The system usually consists of a pulse generator implanted in your chest and three electrodes that are implanted in your heart and connected to a device. The device is a small computer. It works with a battery that is confined safely inside a casing. The device constantly monitors your heart rhythm and gives electrical energy to the heart as soon as it detects arrhythmia. The device can function as a pacemaker, cardioverter or defibrillator. The device can monitor the heart rhythm and store information about the heart. The doctors can review this information with the help of a special computer called “programmer”. The programmer communicates with the device outside the body and the doctor can evaluate the treatment program for the heart rhythm better and adjust the settings when necessary thanks to the programmer.

An electrode can be defined as an insulated wire that is implanted into the heart and is connected to the device. The electrode carries the heart signal to the device and then carries the energy back to the heart in order to coordinate the heart rhythm. The CRT-D system is implanted during a surgical operation. A sedative is given before this surgical procedure in order to make sure that the patient is as comfortable as possible.