Page 24 - SOUTH FLORIDA HOPSITAL NEWS JUNE 2021
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What’s New... What’s New... What’s New...





                Holy Cross Health Now Offering Patients                                 FAU Gets CDC Grant to Test PPE Efficacy

                a New Heart Failure Monitoring Solution                                       and Workplace Virus Transmission

          Holy Cross Health is now offering a new miniaturized, wireless monitoring sensor   With many businesses and schools in the United States now open post COVID-19,
        to manage heart failure. The Abbott CardioMEMS™ HF System is the first and only   employers are faced with new challenges to keep the workplace safe for their employ-
        FDA-approved heart failure monitoring device that has been clinically proven to sig-  ees, customers and students.
        nificantly reduce hospital admissions when used by physicians to manage heart fail-  Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and
        ure.                                                                      Computer Science have received a two-year $698,801 grant from the U.S. Centers for
          Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization for Americans over age 65. The   Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to test the effectiveness of various types of
        device allows patients to remotely share daily sensor readings from their homes to   personal protection measures against airborne viral transmission. Building on their
        their health care providers, allowing for personalized care to reduce the likelihood of   prior research, the project will result in experimentally verified computational strate-
        hospitalization. Innovative telehealth, like the CardioMEMS HF System, reduces the   gies for mitigating airborne transmission of aerosolized droplets for a safe workplace
        need for in-person appointments. Data from a recent clinical trial found that the   environment.
        remote monitoring technology reduces heart failure hospital admissions by up to 58   Researchers will test and quantify the effectiveness of various protective measures
        percent.                                                                  under new American Society for Testing Materials standards and best safety practices
          Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the   in the workplace. They will evaluate facemasks and other personal protection equip-
        body’s demands. The CardioMEMS HF System features a sensor that is implanted in   ment; physical safety barriers; interior designs of spaces; air filters, humidifiers; safe
        the pulmonary artery (PA) during a minimally invasive procedure. Increased PA pres-  seating arrangements in a classroom setting and queuing at checkouts, as well as
        sures appear before weight and blood pressure changes, which are often used as indi-  other measures.
        rect measures of worsening heart failure.                                  “Employers are considering various protective measures in the workplace such as
          The CardioMEMS HF System, from global health care leader Abbott, is approved by   facemasks, placing safety barriers in offices and at workstations, reviewing ventila-
        the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for commercial use in the U.S. The   tion/air conditioning systems in buildings, redesigning interior spaces as well as
        GUIDE-HF clinical trial followed the CHAMPION trial, which studied the effective-  arranging safe queuing procedures at checkouts and other high-density environ-
        ness of the CardioMEMS HF System in New York Heart Association (NYHA)     ments,” said Manhar Dhanak, Ph.D., principal investigator, chair of FAU’s
        Functional Classification System class III heart failure patients who had been hospi-  Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, and professor and director of
        talized for heart failure in the previous 12 months.                      SeaTech. “With this CDC grant, we will conduct experimental simulation studies that
                                                                                  will result in observations and analyses in support of social distancing and other pre-
                                                                                  ventative measures for mitigating airborne transmission of viral infections, which will
                                                                                  be of particular interest to businesses, schools and the general public.”
              West Boca Medical Center Establishes New

                Delivery Program for Maternity Patients

          West Boca Medical Center announces its Boca Center for Women’s Care, is now   Broward Health Now Offers Breakthrough
        offering a laborist program. This program offers in-house physicians, who are special-
        ized obstetricians and gynecologists. They are available 24/7 to care for all your mater-  Stimulator to Treat Sleep Apnea
        nity, labor and delivery needs.
          Laborists can admit patients, provide emergency services, manage labor, and deliver   A good night’s sleep doesn’t come easy to the more than
        babies. Some of the services our laborists will provide include:          22 million Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep
          • In-house OB/GYN support                                               apnea, which occurs when soft tissues in the airway collapse
          • Assist your OB during cesarean sections                               during sleep and block the flow of oxygen to the brain. The
          • Emergency intervention, e.g. precipitous delivery, fetal distress     brain senses a lack of oxygen and wakes up the body just
          • Patient evaluation and consultation                                   long enough to take a breath, causing a cycle of poor, dis-
          • Fetal monitor interpretation                                          ruptive sleep.
          • Coordinate communication in urgent situations                          “A lack of sleep can be detrimental to our body, but sleep
          • Coverage for attending physicians as requested                        apnea can lead to other health issues, including moodiness,
                                                                                  memory loss and even stroke, heart attack and death,” said
                                                                                  Charles Zeller IV, D.O., an otolaryngologist with the
                                                                                  Broward Health Physician Group. “That’s why it’s so impor-
                      First New Lung Valve Procedure                              tant to be treated for sleep apnea.”                  Dr. Charles Zeller IV
                                                                                   Dr. Zeller is the first physician in the Broward Health sys-
                          Done at Holy Cross Health                               tem to utilize Inspire® Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS), the only FDA-approved
                                                                                  implantable device to combat obstructive sleep apnea. Inspire UAS is a less intrusive,
          The first new lung valve treatment for patients with severe COPD/emphysema was   more comfortable solution to obstructive sleep apnea. Implanted in the body as an
        performed at Holy Cross Health, one of the first hospitals in South Florida to offer the   outpatient procedure, the small device is activated following a 30-day healing period.
        Zephyr® Endobronchial Valve treatment.                                    Working inside the body with a patient’s natural breathing process, Inspire can com-
          “This is a groundbreaking moment for patients who suffer from emphysema,” said   bat certain types of obstructive sleep apnea, particularly in cases where a loss of mus-
        Sam G. Kosseifi, M.D., DABaSM, lead pulmonologist at Holy Cross Health. “It’s a min-  cle tone causes the tongue to fall back in the mouth.
        imally invasive procedure that helps them breathe easier without major surgery and   Based on a patient’s unique breathing patterns, Inspire delivers a mild stimulation
        improves their quality of life.”                                          to the hypoglossal nerve, which controls tongue movement and prevents the tongue
          Dr. Kosseifi and his team inserted four one-way tiny valves into the airways of   from blocking the airway. By stimulating these muscles, the airway remains open dur-
        Stanley Williams, a 79-year-old patient who has had COPD for a long time. The valves   ing sleep.
        were inserted to block off the diseased parts of the lungs where air gets trapped.   Inspire is controlled by the patient using a small, handheld Inspire sleep remote
        Keeping air from getting trapped in the diseased parts of the lung allows the healthier   that is turned on before bedtime and turned off in the morning. Additionally, the
        parts of the lungs to expand and take in more air and allow the patient to breathe eas-  patient can pause therapy during the night, if needed, and increase or decrease ther-
        ier, while reducing shortness of breath and also allowing the patient to be more active   apy settings.
        and energetic.
          "It was getting harder and harder to breathe," said Williams. "Since the valve
        implant, I can breathe much easier and can take deep breaths without any strain. Any
        physical activity used to require me to sit down and catch my breath but now my
        recovery time is much quicker and my lungs are working better."
          Before the Zephyr Valves the only options for relief were highly invasive treatments
        including lung surgeries.



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         24                       June 2021                                                                southfloridahospitalnews.com                                                                       South Florida Hospital News
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