Man benefits from experimental Scott & White blood pressure treatmentSaturday, July 05, 2008
By Cindy V. Culp
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Waco lumber yard worker Larry Gatlin didn’t have much luck controlling his high blood pressure by changing his diet or trying a range of medicines.
So now he’s become one of a few people in the world to test an experimental device designed to help people control high blood pressure.
Similar to what a pacemaker does for the heart, the device uses electrical signals to prompt the body to use its natural mechanism for controlling blood pressure. Early evidence shows it can help keep blood pressure under control even when diet and medications can’t.
Scott & White is the only hospital in Texas participating in a clinical trial of the device, called the Rheos Hypertension Therapy System. Its doctors have implanted more devices than any other institution in the world, said Dr. Robert Feldtman, a vascular surgeon at Scott & White who is leading the study there.
Scott & White implanted its 10th device recently, Feldtman said. About 120 have been done worldwide.
The 47-year-old Gatlin said he has struggled with high blood pressure for the past seven years. He changed his diet in an effort to fix the problem and also tried an array of medications.
But nothing made a substantial difference, Gatlin said. He was tired all the time and lost the ability to do much but work. Pastimes like working in his yard and going to basketball games became impossible.
“(My heart) was beating so hard and so fast, it was wearing me out mentally as well,” he said.
Since he received the device in November, Gatlin said he has seen real improvements. His blood pressure has dropped significantly, and he has regained much of his energy.
Feldtman said 90 percent of the people who have received the device so far have seen their blood pressure drop, some dramatically. The challenge with the device, he said, will be for its manufacturer to make it smaller and have a longer life. The device — which is implanted under the skin, near the collarbone — is about the size of an iPod and lasts one to three years, he said.
The device stimulates an artery in the neck. Doctors have long manually stimulated the area to relieve high blood pressure in emergencies, Feldtman said.
People who get the devices may still have to remain on some medications, Feldtman said. Those in the study, including Gatlin, have continued taking their prescriptions. But the goal is to eliminate the need for medication as much as possible, he said.
About 70 million people nationwide have high blood pressure, Feldtman said. Some 70 percent of them don’t have optimal control, even with medication, and 10 million have what is considered poor control. High blood pressure can result in heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.
cculp@wacotrib.com
757-5744
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