Helping the heart beat in time
A pioneering device means a more robust heartbeat and new vigor for patients

Retired Chicago fireman James Paulsen stays fit by playing golf, riding his bike and walking two miles every day. Enjoying these activities two years ago, however, was unthinkable.

“I couldn’t walk from one end of my house to the other,” says 60-year-old Paulsen, who has had several heart attacks. “When I went to make my bed, I’d make half of it, sit down and rest, and then make the other half.”

Paulsen’s physical transformation to better health is due to a groundbreaking innovation called a bi-ventricular pacing device, a key component in an emerging therapy known as heart resynchronization. Heart specialists at Advocate Christ Medical Center—where Paulsen received the device—have helped develop and refine the new therapy and advance the field of heart resynchronization.

“We’re so proud to have been part of the pioneering studies that led to approval of this device,” says cardiologist Marc Silver, M.D., director of Christ Medical Center’s Heart Failure Institute. “It’s remarkable that resynchronization has gone from concept to proven application in just a few years.”

Resynchronizing hearts
A healthy heart’s electrical system synchronizes—or coordinates—the movement of first the upper and then the lower chambers of the heart to pump blood. However, damage from heart disease or the buildup of scar tissue after a heart attack—which occurred in Paulsen’s case—may throw the heart’s electrical system out of sync, causing arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) or congestive heart failure.

In some cases, the left ventricle (the main chamber of the heart) develops a conduction problem called left bundle branch block, which causes the heart to stop contracting simultaneously and makes it pump less efficiently, explains A. Tom Petropulos, M.D., an electrophysiologist (a cardiologist who specializes in heart rhythm problems) and director of Christ Medical Center’s Electrophysiology Lab.

“If the heart is damaged and the patient has left bundle branch block, part of the left heart contracts while the other relaxes,” says Dr. Petropulos. “That makes the heart pump much less effectively, leading to more heart weakness.”

Regular pacemakers synchronize the electrical pulse between the heart’s upper and lower chambers. The bi-ventricular device, which is implanted in the patient’s chest, stimulates both sides of the left ventricle simultaneously, just like a healthy heart. As a result, the heartbeat is quicker and stronger.

“More blood is pumped into the body so patients like Mr. Paulsen have more energy,” says Dr. Petropulos. “They are able to stay active and feel much better.”