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East Texas Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute has teamed with Tyler Cardiovascular Consultants to bring what they say is a promising intervention for patients with a specific type of congestive heart failure.

Dr. Raul Torres-Heisecke, with Tyler CVC, is the principal investigator for East Texas in a clinical trial that uses an implantable device to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart.

ETMC officials said the trial is expected to be the largest of cardiac resynchronization therapy, or CRT, to date, enrolling about 3,000 patients worldwide. Torres expects to enroll 15 patients in East Texas.

“Essentially, it’s aimed for a subset of patients who have a specific condition called left bundle branch block, which is a fancy way for doctors to say that the electrical system of the heart is abnormal and that results in an abnormal contraction of the heart,” Torres said.

The device, AdaptivCRT, re-synchronizes the heart in a way that mimics normal function. The trial, sponsored by Medtronic and called AdaptResponse, will assess the effectiveness of the device.

“The preliminary data is very promising,” Torres said. “That’s why it’s worthy to offer it to our East Texas patients.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 million people are living with congestive heart failure in the United States. About half who develop CFH will die within five years of diagnosis.

It’s one of the most common causes of deaths and hospital admissions in the U.S. Patients can survive with medication, but Torres said doctors want to give patients more than survival. They want to improve patients’ quality of life, by enabling them to feel less fatigued and function better.

Retired and now disabled, Jeri Canatella, 63, of Athens, said she didn’t imagine she’d cope with heart failure at this age. Last summer, it appeared suddenly. Although she has a family history of heart disease, she had no symptoms until after a hip replacement surgery. She began having shortness of breath and thought it was associated with medication prescribed to her. Her doctor admitted her in the hospital to run a series of tests, finding she has congestive heart failure.

She and her husband were devastated by the news, as they’d worked together running their real estate company.

“It was pretty much a big shock to us,” she said. “I have an extremely weak, weak heart. As it turns out, I only have 20 percent usage … It’s not easy because I used to be a busy person. For me to learn a new lifestyle is difficult.”

The mother of two was asked to consider participating in the AdaptivCRT clinical trial during a regular doctor’s visit in December.

Mrs. Canatella is the first of two patients from East Texas to participate in the trial. Her device is similar to a pacemaker, but has a built in defibrillator to shock her heart if it stops.

“That should help me get to the emergency room and help save my life,” she said. “They’re not expecting that this will cure it. They made sure we understood that.”

People with CHF are often fatigued. Doctors told Mrs. Canatella she could see a 5 to 15 percent improvement with the device.

“I’ll be happy with five,” she said. “Any little bit that I can get to help sustain a better quality of life, I’m fine with that.”