It has been another successful month of over 200 reported patient cases benefitting from direct visualization with hTEE. Customers employing hTEE such as those at Barnes-Jewish, Vanderbilt, Thomas Jefferson, Columbia, Henry Ford, etc. continue to improve patient care by routinely using hTEE to manage hemodynamic instability.
Physicians often underscore the importance of the right ventricle (RV) when discussing hemodynamic instability. Over the past few years, we have seen in scientific literature a growing awareness focused on effective management of RV dysfunction. When put into practice, this renewed focus has significantly contributed to improved patient outcomes, shorter ICU LOS and reductions in cost of complications.
RV dysfunction is a serious clinical challenge in critical care. Often it can quickly lead to RV failure without effective intervention to treat it. Simon Maltais MD, PhD, Vanderbilt's Director of Heart Transplant & Ventricular Support Program, concurs, describing the importance of the RV as follows:
"I tell people on the floor there are five causes when a patient is not doing well. First cause is RV failure, second cause is RV failure, third cause is RV failure, fourth cause is RV failure ...and then it's down to a volume problem. Because if you spiral down to having an RV problem, then you can't get back. Then you know you are on paralytics, nitric oxide and it spirals down to the pump cannot flow and the next thing you know you are back in the OR reopening a patient - so it's a big deal. Knowing that the RV is okay is a very important tool. And, things change. It's very reassuring for a surgeon to say, this is how the images looked in the OR and now this is how they look [in the ICU]. That is the difference."
Utilizing hTEE enables clinicians, like Dr. Maltais, to visualize over time, both the right and left ventricles using ImaCor's simple three-view exam. Furthermore, by monitoring bi-ventricular size and function, hTEE users can identify the root cause of a patient's hemodynamic instability. Current hemodynamic monitors produce numerical data that does not directly correlate to RV size and function, so often RV dysfunction remains undiagnosed until it is too late. It is for this reason that you can help "Save the RV with hTEE". hTEE is the ONLY technology in the ICU that is continuously available to directly visualize heart filling and function.
In concert with our customers, we will be continuing the "Save the RV with hTEE" conversation at the upcoming transplant meeting in Montreal (The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation - ISHLT). An hTEE symposium is scheduled during the meeting with presentations from some of the top Heart Failure programs in the country.
To join the conversation or for more information please contact us at info@imacorinc.com or email me directly at ceo@imacorinc.com.
With kind regards,
Peter Pellerito
President & CEO
