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Use what you have--biological assistance for the treatment of heart failure in the Caribbean
Ramnarine, I. R; Salmons, S; Jarvis, J. C.
Affiliation
  • Ramnarine, I. R; University of Liverpool. Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology. Skeletal Muscle Assist Research Group.
  • Salmons, S; University of Liverpool. Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology. Skeletal Muscle Assist Research Group.
  • Jarvis, J. C; University of Liverpool. Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology. Skeletal Muscle Assist Research Group.
West Indian med. j ; West Indian med. j;54(1): 65-69, Jan. 2005.
Article de En | LILACS | ID: lil-410073
Bibliothèque responsable: BR1.1
RESUMO
Cardiovascular disease represents the main cause of death among adults in the Caribbean. Primary and secondary care facilities are efficiently managed. Cardiac surgical and interventional facilities, however, exist only in a small number of territories and are mainly privately funded and are only accessible to few patients. Patients with end-stage heart failure (ESHF) are given few options apart from palliative care or to seek treatment outside of the region. Transplantation remains the 'gold standard' therapy for ESHF. Establishing a Caribbean cardiac transplantation programme would require legislative and infrastructure changes. Tissue rejection poses a problem and expensive immunosuppressants are needed. Mechanical assist devices are costly and associated with complications such as haemorrhage, thrombosis and infections. Both forms of therapy require significant technical and financial investment and do not appear to be economically viable for the Caribbean. The use of the patient's own skeletal muscle to perform biological cardiac assistance is potentially the ideal alternative. The skeletal muscle is conditioned by electrical stimulation to become fatigue resistant. It is then transposed and harnessed as an auxilliary circulatory pump. The required muscle stimulators are relatively inexpensive and the surgical techniques and postoperative care are not overly demanding. We discuss the financial and research implications of treating patients from the Caribbean who have end-stage heart failure
Sujet(s)
Texte intégral: 1 Indice: LILACS Sujet Principal: Cardiomyoplastie / Défaillance cardiaque Limites du sujet: Humans langue: En Texte intégral: West Indian med. j Thème du journal: MEDICINA Année: 2005 Type: Article
Texte intégral: 1 Indice: LILACS Sujet Principal: Cardiomyoplastie / Défaillance cardiaque Limites du sujet: Humans langue: En Texte intégral: West Indian med. j Thème du journal: MEDICINA Année: 2005 Type: Article