Loyola Medicine Enrolling Heart Patients with Diabetes in Defibrillator Trial
May 22, 2018Categories: Endocrinology, Heart & Vascular
Tags: Endocrinology, Heart Vascular
MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine is enrolling patients in a landmark international trial to determine whether defibrillator devices can save lives when implanted in diabetic patients who have had prior heart attacks.
An implantable defibrillator can prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest by treating life-threatening arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms). The device continually monitors the patient’s heart rhythm. If the heart begins to beat dangerously fast or chaotically, the device restores normal rhythm with an electric shock.
Diabetic patients who have had a heart attack may be at risk of dying suddenly from life-threatening arrhythmias. However, there currently is no official recommendation to implant defibrillators in these patients. The trial will investigate whether implanting a defibrillator in such cases will save lives. Patients will be selected to either receive an implantable defibrillator along with standard medical therapy or medical therapy alone.
Loyola is the only Illinois center participating in the trial, which is enrolling 1,800 patients from 100 centers in the United States, Europe and Israel.
To be eligible for the trial, a patient must:
- Be age 65 or older
- Have diabetes
- Have experienced at least one heart attack
- Have a left ventricular ejection fraction of 36 to 50% (meaning heart muscle pumping function is mildly or moderately reduced)
The device used in the trial is called a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD). The battery and electronic circuitry of the S-ICD is implanted on the left side of the chest under the arm pit. A conductor wire from the device (called a lead) is implanted over the heart, just under the skin.
The trial is called Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial with Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (MADIT S-ICD). Principal investigator for the Loyola site is Smit Vasaiwala, MD.
For more information, contact Loyola Medicine clinical research nurse Nancy Schoenecker, RN, at 708-216-2646 or nschoenecker@luc.edu. Dr. Vasaiwala’s office number is 708-216-5609.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).