Clinical Update of the Latest Evidence for CardioMEMS Pulmonary Artery Pressure Monitoring in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: A Promising System for Remote Heart Failure Care

Abstract

The CardioMEMS pulmonary artery (PA) monitoring system placed in the left lower lobe pulmonary artery is capable of measuring pulmonary artery pressure remotely as a surrogate of intracardiac filling pressures and volume status. The technique is safe and reliable. By using remote PA monitoring for proactive medical interventions, there is a growing body of clinical evidence for a substantial, robust reduction in HF hospitalizations in various populations (clinical trial setting, post-marketing studies and real-world experiences). This review summarizes the clinical evidence, outlines future perspectives, and aims for remote patient care in heart failure using CardioMEMS.

Telemedical Monitoring Based on Implantable Devices—the Evolution Beyond the CardioMEMS™ Technology

“…The CardioMEMS™ (CardioMEMS HF System, Abbott, Sylmar, CA) is an implantable wireless sensor placed in the left lower lobe pulmonary artery (through a catheter-delivery system), capable of remotely measuring PAP [18]. It is the only invasive HF remote monitoring sensor with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and European Conformity (CE) mark [19]. Patients take daily home measurements with an external electronics system and transmit the PAP data wirelessly for clinician review [18,19].…”

“…It is the only invasive HF remote monitoring sensor with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and European Conformity (CE) mark [19]. Patients take daily home measurements with an external electronics system and transmit the PAP data wirelessly for clinician review [18,19]. The recent studies showed that the CardioMEMS™ reduced HF hospitalizations and improved quality of life (Table 2) [46][47][48][49][50][51].…”

“…A wireless monitoring system (CardioMEMS™) detecting changes in PAP has been proposed for HF patients. CardioMEMS™ transmits data to the healthcare provider and allows to institute timely intensification of HF therapies [18][19][20]. In this narrative review, we aimed to provide an overview of telemedical monitoring and its impact on outcomes among HF patients; focusing on the advances of the CardioMEMS™ system.…”

Reflecting on the advancements of HFrEF therapies over the last two decades and predicting what is yet to come

“… 65 Classic methods for ambulatory HF monitoring such as daily weights and symptom monitoring have failed to mitigate HF hospitalizations. 66 Simultaneously, there is an increased appreciation of the fact that changes in intracardiac pressures precede signs of overt congestion and can therefore provide early knowledge about incident decompensation. 42 This has led to increased enthusiasm around the use of remote invasive monitoring tools, namely the CardioMEMS HF system with multiple clinical studies demonstrating safety and clinical efficacy.…”

Heart failure decompensation alerts in a patient’s home using an automated, AI-driven, point-of-care device

“…This leads to patient noncompliance, which is thought to be a major driver of hospital readmissions 8–10. Clinically, other solutions such as apps reminding patients to take measurements,11 voice-response systems12 for daily measurements, or implantable devices such as CardioMems13 or Heartlogic14 have been used. However, these methods all suffer from reliability issues,15 have poor patient compliance, have significant drop-off rates16 after their installation/setup and/or are very costly 17…”