Page 16 - South Florida Hospital News July 2021

ADVANCES IN TELEMEDICINE

New Leading-Edge Treatment Jupiter Medical Center

for Leukemia Now Offered at Is First in South Florida to Treat

Nicklaus Children's Hospital Heart Failure Patients Using

Nicklaus Children's Hospital is one of only a few pediatric hospitals in Breakthrough CCM Therapy
Florida, and the only one in South Florida, to offer the latest immune cell
treatment for children and adolescents with certain types of leukemia.
The treatment, known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) ther- Jupiter Medical Center announced it is among the first
apy uses a patient's own immune system cells to treat acute lymphoblastic hospitals in the United States and the only hospital in
leukemia (ALL) and B cell lymphomas. The Nicklaus Children's Cancer South Florida to use, CCMTM therapy, delivered by the
and Blood Disorders Center is an approved treatment facility to deliver the Optimizer® system, to treat patients suffering from heart
FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy to the pediatric population. failure.
“CAR T-cell therapy not only provides us with a more precise treatment CCM therapy, also known as cardiac contractility mod-
option for children and adolescents with advanced types of cancers, but it ulation is a new, FDA-approved heart failure treatment
also brings forth the opportunity for a tailored, less invasive, and perhaps proven to improve quality of life for patients that are no
less toxic treatment option to improve the quality of life for the patients in longer adequately responding to medications to manage
our care,” said Dr. Jorge Galvez Silva, director of the Blood and Marrow symptoms or slow the progression of heart failure. The
Transplant Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. innovative therapy is the first of its kind intended to
The FDA-approved Kymriah, a Novartis product, is the first gene-modi- improve the contraction of the heart, allowing more oxy-
fied therapy available in the United States for pediatric and young adult gen-rich blood to reach the body. CCM therapy delivers
patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and B cell lymphomas. precisely timed electrical pulses to the heart that are Dr. Simie Platt
intended to improve the heart’s ability to contract and can
be used in conjunction with medications and other heart
failure therapies.
Simie Platt, M.D., Board Certified, Fellowship Trained, Cardiologist and Cardiac
Electrophysiologist, performed the procedure. “CCM therapy is a breakthrough ther-
apy option for heart failure patients that is intended to help them feel better, so they
Visit us on the web at can start doing the things they love again,” said Dr. Platt. “Medications are not always
enough to help slow the progression of heart failure and improve the quality of life for
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com these patients. CCM therapy is a treatment option that brings hope to these patients
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
by improving the often-debilitating symptoms of heart failure.”

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16 July 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News