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PeriCut EFS for minimally invasive periocardiotmy
I made it through all the final inclusion/exclusion criteria for Dr Borlaug’s study. Had the surgery yesterday. In St Mary’s currently but they may cut me loose later. We stay around the area for a few days before heading back to North Dakota. It’s 600 miles and my nearest cardiologist a 100+ miles away. So we’ll hang here. Some mild surgery pain. Which is to be expected. I felt immediate relief of the pressure on my heart though. Follow ups to come…”mechanical solution to a mechanical problem”. Took several months to get to this point but really pleased so far.
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Congratulations, @altilla. I love hearing your experienced immediate relief of heart pressure. This is so wonderful!
I believe the study is the PeriCut Catheter System Early Feasibility Study, and the primary criteria you refer to is having heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This system modifies the pericardium allowing the left ventricle to better fill and enhance cardiac output.
- Mayo Clinic Research PeriCut Catheter System Feasibility Study
https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/cls-20575995
- PeriCut First-In-Human Use in 3 Patients
https://www.mpo-mag.com/breaking-news/hfpef-therapy-used-for-first-time-in-human-patients/
If I understand correctly you are one of up to 15 people who will participate in this study. Would you share more about this procedure using the PeriCut Catheter? How long have you been having problems, and did you have other options? What are your expectations going forward having this procedure behind you?
Good morning! Sure. Until September of 2024 I was a disgustingly healthy individual. Then I got a bad case of Covid and that started a sequence of events that led me here. Covid pneumonia with coughing so severe I detached the retina in my right eye, microscopic colitis, influenza A, post covid adult onset asthma, hypertension, Long Covid/dysautonomia and unexplained dypsnea. I think I forgot a couple things in there but it doesn’t matter. Pulmonologist and Cardiologist couldn’t find a reason. My cardiologist used to work at Mayo and after all the tests that were available in North Dakota recommended I go to Mayo for testing that he knew was available there. My Mayo triage team thought this was probably a long covid thing and I would be referred down that path but I had to clear cardiology protocols first. I didn’t. Last October I was diagnosed with HFpEF and put on Jardiance. I’m not the stereotypical HFpEF patient. Not overweight. Not frail. Only 68. A very active male. The Jardiance worked great for about a two months. Then either my body got used to it or my HFpEF got worse. I was offered a slot in the study. I was to be number 5 in February. Provider scheduling didn’t work out and patient 4 didn’t clear all the hurdles…so I became patient 4 this week. Monday was a long day of testing and interviews. Tuesday was a right heart cath with exercise to make sure my pressures were bad enough and then right in for the pericut (catheter switchblade by heart failure solutions) pericardiotmy. Should be released today had some minor lung drain issues but feel WUNDERBAR!