Horst Sievert (Frankfurt, Germany) talks to BLearning at EuroPCR 2019 (21–24 May, Paris, France) about the VECTOR-HF trial which evaluated the safety, usability and performance of a novel wireless pressure monitoring system in adult patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III Heart Failure (HF).
Sievert says that if left atrial pressure can be measured early and there is an increase, “we can react and change the medication of the patient” and ultimately “prevent decompensation”. The advantages of this particular system compared with other similar devices, Sievert says, is that it does not require a battery and will thus not need to be replaced.
The trial is still ongoing but Sievert says so far the device has been “easy to implant” and there have been “no adverse events” from these first two cases.
Devices such as this one “will have an enormous impact on how we take care of heart failure patients” and will allow physicians to “learn more about heart failure than with any technology we have so far available”.
