US 2003/0149423 A1 · Methods for the detection and treatment of cardiac events

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for detecting an acute myocardial infarction (i.e., a heart attack) at the earliest possible time and promptly warning the patient that he should immediately seek medical care. The present invention includes an implantable electronic system that can sense a change in the patient's electrogram that is indicative of a heart attack. If a heart attack is sensed, the device would then cause an implantable and/or externally located alarm to be actuated to warn the patient of his condition and a medical practitioner at a remote diagnostic center would receive the patient's electrogram for analysis. The patient or a caretaker would then be informed to self-inject medication through a subcutaneous, pass-through drug port that can be a separate device or integrated into the implanted device that is designed for the early detection of a heart attack. The methods of the present invention include determining if a human patient is likely to have a heart attack and, if he is, then implanting within that patient a device that can sense when a heart attack occurs and alarm the patient to take appropriate actions if a heart attack does occur.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method to decrease the extent of damage to the heart muscle and lower the fatality rate for a human patient who has a heart attack, the method including the following steps:

(a) determining if the human patient has a condition that is a risk factor for a heart attack, the condition being selected from the group that includes at least one of the following:
a prior heart attack, a prior stroke, a family history of heart disease, a family history of stroke, coronary atherosclerosis, proteinuria greater than 250 ng in a 24 hour period, diabetes with a fasting blood glucose level greater than 110 mg/dl, a prior coronary bypass surgery operation, hypercholesterolemia, a homosysteine level greater than 9 mcmol/L, a c-reactive protein level that is greater than 1.1 mg/dl;
and
(b) implanting into the human patient a cardiosaver device that is designed to cause an alarm to occur that can be sensed by the human patient if a sensor plus electronic circuitry of the cardiosaver device indicates the occurrence of a heart attack.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Methods for the detection and treatment of cardiac events

Life of this patent

Methods for the detection and treatment of cardiac events

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6