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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
EECP
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
EECP
by Bad Heart, Apr 17, 2001 12:00AM
I am 69yr old male,heart disease,2-open heart surgeries,now have 2-100%blocked arteries,can't open them,surgery is too high risk,taking alot of medicine,one seizure 3yrs ago, and have mild angina. Nebr. Heart Institute Cardioligist wants me to go thru the EECP (Enhanced External Counterpulsation) regime of 35 treatments. What are the pros and cons of this, the past success rates, and any opinions you have. Visited the Cleveland Heart Clinic last fall. Am will to do this if it might help. Thankyou.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-M.D.-CRC, Apr 17, 2001 12:00AM
EECP stands for "Enhanced External Counterpulsation" which has now been approved by Medicare for treatment of angina. The treatment involves a series of pressure cuffs, placed around the legs, which allows a pressure "wave" to move in the arteries from the ankles upward toward the heart. These waves are synchronized with the patient's heartbeat via an electrocardiographic signal. The goal of EECP is to stimulate growth of new collateral arteries. There are some studies that show benefit to EECP. We are currently offering EECP to selected patients here at the Cleveland Clinic.
Here are two web sites with addition information:
www.eecp.com
www.vasomed.com
For anyone interested, here is the site I made for people seeking information about Heart Disease and specifically, EECP. P
http://sites.netscape.net/myeecp/index.html