AHN Studying an Innovation that Improves Quality of Life and Cardiac Function in Heart Failure Patients

Manreet Kanwar, MD
Credit: Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Cardiovascular Institute physicians are using a breakthrough technology to treat heart failure patients who no longer respond to medications, pacemakers, and lifestyle changes.

The AccuCinch® System treats the left ventricle, which, when enlarged, causes heart failure symptoms and can lead to disease progression. Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh, the flagship academic medical center of AHN is the first hospital in western Pennsylvania to begin enrolling patients in the AccuCinch clinical trial.

Manreet Kanwar, MD, cardiologist and director of AHN’s Heart Failure Division, along with AHN interventional cardiologists David Lasorda, DO, and Mithun Chakravarthy, MD, lead the trial and work alongside heart centers around the world to study the safety and efficacy of the device.

“The AccuCinch device is an exciting advancement in the management of progressive heart failure, as it’s designed to improve heart function with a minimally invasive approach,” Kanwar said. “It’s our hope that its efficacy will result in our patients having improved quality of life, with reduced cardiovascular symptoms.”

AGH interventional cardiologists implanted their first AccuCinch device last July as part of the global clinical trial, formally named the CORCINCH-HF study. About half of all heart failure patients have an enlarged left ventricle, often caused by the heart overworking to adequately pump blood throughout the body. The device aims to reduce the size of the heart’s left ventricle, which improves the heart’s strength and blood-pumping function and mitigates heart failure symptoms.

The 12-month data recently presented about the study demonstrated improvement in heart failure patient outcomes and beneficial changes in the structure of the heart. It showed significant and progressive reverse remodeling of the left ventricle, as well as significant and sustained improvement in quality of life and functional capacity measures.

During the AccuCinch procedure, physicians attach a flexible implant to the interior of the left ventricular wall and then cinch it. The implant reduces the size of the left ventricle, reduces ventricular wall stress, and supports and strengthens the heart wall.

“During this procedure, interventional cardiologists thread a catheter through the patient’s leg and feed it into the left ventricle of the heart,” Kanwar explained. “When we cinch the cable, it acts like the string of a drawstring bag. Since it is a minimally invasive approach, we anticipate we can discharge patients the following day and get them back to their daily routine quickly.”

For more information and to find out if your patient is a candidate for enrollment, contact Dr. Kanwar at 412-359-6181.

AccuCinch® is a registered trademark of Ancora Heart, Inc.