Gil Vardi MD has become the first cardiologist in the world to implant the BAT-wire Barostim Neo CVRX device. The procedure was performed at Premier Surgical Center on the St. Louis Heart and Vascular (SLHV) campus in Bridgeton, Missouri.
The Barostim device includes a pulse generator implanted below the collarbone with a lead attached to the carotid artery. The device delivers electrical impulses to the neck’s baroreceptor cells, which sense the flow of the blood through the arteries. Barostim improves the quality of life of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction (“weakening of the heart”).
The device currently available in the US requires open surgery of the neck. The BAT wire is inserted without surgery using a minimally invasive method guided by ultrasound without the need of open neck surgery or exposure to x-ray radiation.
Dr. Vardi is the principal investigator at SLHV for the first human trial of the BAT wire. Also participating in the evaluation and treatment of the patient: Harvey Serota MD, referring cardiologist; Thomas Charles MD, vascular surgeon; Michael Finn MD, anesthesia; Rick Barnes MD, ENT; and Paige Brown, SLHV manager of clinical research operations.
