CardioKinetix has announced its Parachute ventricular partitioning device has been used in Asia for the first time, with four patients being successfully treated with the novel catheter-based device in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The device offers the first minimally invasive catheter-based treatment to partition damaged heart muscle after myocardial infarction.
According to a press release, the device is used to exclude the non-functional heart segment from the healthy, functional segment to decrease the overall volume of the left ventricle and restore its geometry and function.
“We are thrilled that the first Parachute procedure in Asia was performed here in Kuala Lumpur. There is a significant unmet need for better treatments for patients with heart failure in Malaysia, where heart disease is a growing public health concern,” said Robaayah Zambahari, chief executive officer of Institut Jantung Negara (National Heart Institute) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “Surgical treatments for the heart failure are invasive and typically performed in the later stages of the disease, and medical therapy does not address the underlying structural issues of ischemic heart failure. The Parachute device is an innovative new option that has demonstrated promising results in previous studies.”
