AUTHOR=Visco Valeria , Esposito Cristina , Manzo Michele , Fiorentino Antonio , Galasso Gennaro , Vecchione Carmine , Ciccarelli Michele TITLE=A Multistep Approach to Deal With Advanced Heart Failure: A Case Report on the Positive Effect of Cardiac Contractility Modulation Therapy on Pulmonary Pressure Measured by CardioMEMS JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.874433 DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.874433 ISSN=2297-055X ABSTRACT=

During the last years, the management of heart failure (HF) made substantial progress, focusing on device-based therapies to meet the demands of this complex syndrome. In this case report, we present a multistep approach to deal with HF. Specifically, we report the first patient subjected to the implantation of both Optimizer Smart® (Impulse Dynamics Inc., Marlton, NJ, USA) and CardioMEMS devices. A 72-year-old male patient with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) was admitted to our cardiology department in January 2021, following a progressive shortening of the time between hospitalizations for levosimendan infusions. Specifically, the patient was monitored daily by CardioMEMS, and a strategy of levosimendan infusions guided by the device had been adopted. He was also a carrier of MitraClips and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) and had optimized HF medical therapy. In January 2021, the patient implanted Optimizer Smart® device for cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) therapy because of poor response to therapy and elevated pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). CCM significantly reduced PAP values following discharge (systolic PAP 33.67 ± 2.92 vs. 40.6 ± 3.37 mmHg, diastolic PAP 14.5 ± 2.01 vs. 22.5 ± 2.53 mmHg, mean PAP 22.87 ± 2.20 vs. 30.9 ± 2.99 mmHg, HR 60.93 ± 1.53 vs. 80.83 ± 3.66 bpm; p < 0.0001), with persisting effect at 9 months. The usefulness of CCM is objectively demonstrated for the first time by continuous invasive monitoring of PAP by CardioMEMS, which can suggest the correct timing for CCM implantation.