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Shockers rein in runaway heart beats -- for a price
December 25, 1996
Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Andrew Holtz
(CNN) -- Doctors are treating more and more heart problems with implants that shock failing hearts back into rhythm, rather than using less costly drug treatments.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says that, compared to standard drug treatment, the implanted defibrillators cut death rates in half for certain patients.
"In this specific patient population, the study strongly suggests that the defibrillator is the way to go," said Dr. Angel Leon of Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta.
The devices detect dangerous rhythms and automatically zap hearts back into normal beating. They are commonly used by patients who have survived a cardiac arrest.
But now doctors are offering them to many more patients in order to spare them even one cardiac arrest.
The Food and Drug Administration acted on the research findings earlier this year, approving wider use of heart shocker implants.
But the lifesaving ability of implantable defibrillators comes with a steep price: at least $25,000, plus thousands more for putting it in.
Multiply that by at least 15,000 new patients each year and experts estimate the cost to the nation could top $1 billion.
Moreover, not everyone is convinced that doctors should forsake drug treatments in favor of heart shock devices. They're calling for restraint to make sure the devices aren't implanted unnecessarily.
"I think that they will be used and they should be used for particularly high-risk patients," said Dr. William Stevenson of Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. "It's hard to decide who is a particularly high-risk patient right now."
Studies are under way to help doctors make the right decisions. But the trend now is to increasingly call on these potent heart shockers to rein in runaway heartbeats.
Related story:
- American to equip jets with 'heart-starters' - November 19, 1996
Related sites:
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- New England Journal of Medicine
- University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Food and Drug Association
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