Levinson Heart Hospital at CJW Chippenham First in Virginia to Implant New Reveal DX Cardiac Monitor

Richmond, VA – January 2, 2008 – Physicians at CJW Medical Center’s Levinson Heart Hospital will be the first in Virginia today to implant an innovative cardiac monitoring device for patients with syncope (fainting) or abnormal heart rhythms, including ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VT), fast ventricular tachyarrhythmias (FVT), bradyarrhythmias and asystole. The Medtronic Reveal® DX insertable cardiac monitor (ICM) recently received FDA clearance and will be implanted today in 58 year-old woman by David Gilligan, M.D.

The Reveal DX device monitors patients with syncope 24 hours a day, every day for up to three years. The device offers continuous monitoring of the heart’s electrical activity in order to help physicians diagnose whether symptoms such as fainting, dizziness and unexplained seizure-like episodes have a cardiovascular cause.

 “By their very nature, syncope and cardiac arrhythmias are unpredictable,” said David Gilligan, M.D.  “The Reveal DX, which may help identify whether patients have an underlying cardiac condition causing these events, can aid in determining the appropriate treatment for these patients.”

Placed just under the skin of the chest area using local anesthesia during a simple outpatient procedure, the Reveal DX monitor records important cardiac rhythm data, which may help a physician to diagnose the patient so the appropriate treatment can be undertaken. The device weighs just 15 grams and is approximately the size of a memory stick; unlike a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, there are no leads (tiny wires) that extend from the device into the heart’s chamber(s). To store an electrocardiogram (ECG) at the time of an episode, a patient places a hand-held, pager-sized activator over the device, and presses a button. Later, a physician analyzes the stored information and determines whether the episode was caused by an abnormal heart rhythm.

About Syncope and Arrhythmias
Causes of syncope, or unexplained, recurrent fainting, can be heart rhythm disturbances or abnormalities in the structure of the heart. Syncope can lead to serious injury or can be a precursor to sudden cardiac death. Approximately 1.5 million people worldwide suffer from unexplained syncope. In almost 10 percent of patients, syncope has a cardiac cause; in 50 percent, a non-cardiac cause; and in 40 percent of patients the cause of syncope is unknown.  It is a leading cause of emergency room visits. Syncope is difficult to diagnose as syncopal episodes are often too infrequent and unpredictable for detection with conventional monitoring techniques.

Arrhythmias are simply irregular heart rhythms in the heart’s atria (upper chambers) or ventricles (lower chambers). They can be dangerously fast heart rhythms, known as tachycardia or tachyarrhyhmias; dangerously slow rhythms, known as bradycardia or bradyarrhythmias; fibrillation, where the heart quivers instead of pumping blood effectively to the body; or asystole, which is the absence of electromechanical activity within the heart.

About CJW Medical Center
CJW Medical Center has 758 beds on its two campuses. Chippenham, in the city of Richmond, offers a state-designated trauma center, The Levinson Heart Hospital and Tucker Pavilion; while Johnston-Willis, in Chesterfield County, offers the Thomas Johns Cancer Hospital and the Neuroscience & Gamma Knife Center. CJW Medical Center is a member of HCA Richmond Health System.

About HCA Richmond Health System
With 1,800 beds, 7,700 employees and 2,300 affiliated physicians, HCA Richmond Health System is the largest and most comprehensive healthcare provider and largest private employer in Central Virginia.  HCA Richmond Health System operates four hospitals along with freestanding surgery, imaging and Quick Care centers. Our hospitals include CJW Medical Center, Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, John Randolph Medical Center and Retreat Hospital. Both CJW Medical Center and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital have been named HealthGrades ‘Amerca’s 50 Best Hospitals’ in 2007 and are the only Virginia hospitals to earn this distinction.  For more information or to select a physician, please contact MedLine at 800-242-5662.