First things first, can you tell the difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack?
Cardiac arrest is a disturbance in the firing of electrical nodes within the heart which catalyze the heartbeat. This results in arrhythmia or an irregular heartbeat. Within seconds of the heart ceasing to function, a person will become unresponsive and barely able to breathe.
Death will occur within minutes if treatment is not administered immediately.
CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, forces oxygen into the lungs that is then circulated by simulating a “pumping” action on the chest. This process must continue until the patient is able to breathe on his or her own, or until first responders arrive on the scene. If an AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is available, this is a life-saving tool that provides direct electrical shock to the heart.
The AHA recommends early defibrillation within the first three minutes of a cardiac arrest.
A heart attack, on the other hand, may begin with a feeling of weakness, nausea or numbness from decreased circulation due to a blocked artery. Although the patient may collapse from pain or weakness, or appear unresponsive, it is not appropriate to begin CPR as the heart is still beating (although faintly) and the person may still be able to breathe on his or her own.
CPR training is indispensable for your family and your workplace. These lifesaving techniques can only be applied if you are there – ready and willing – to identify the problem and to take action. Contact us to design a training session for you and your family that will give you the tools and the confidence you will need at a moments notice.
(1) http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Cardiac-Arrest-versus-Heart-Attack-Infographic_UCM_450698_SubHomePage.jsp
]]>On September 14, 2007, Lorenz Diesbergen, age 44, stepped off a commuter train in downtown Chicago and began his daily walk to work in the Chicago Loop. As he crossed the bridge over the Chicago River, his heart’s normal rhythm suddenly deteriorated into an uncoordinated frenzy of useless fibrillations. He may have managed a few more steps—we don’t know—before he pitched forward and fell face-first onto the sidewalk. Paramedics were on the scene within minutes, but efforts at resuscitation proved futile. He left behind a wife and four children.
Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is the medical term that describes sudden death due to rapid and catastrophic failure of the heart’s pumping function (without warnings signs). SCD usually arises from an unstable arrhythmia arising in the heart’s left ventricle, and it results in the immediate loss of blood pressure needed to keep the brain and other vital organs alive. Within the United States alone, 300,000 people a year die from SCD according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association.
Within the asset management firm where Lorenz worked, one of those most deeply affected by the tragedy was the firm’s biotech analyst, Charles Polsky. The two were close in age, both fathers of four, and were good friends. In addition, Charles is an MD. Following Lorenz’s death, Polsky couldn’t shake a deep regret that, despite his training, he’d been unable to help save his friend’s life.
Dudley’s innovation centers around two related discoveries. By studying genes associated with heart failure, he noticed that a specific sodium channel in the heart (called SCN5A) began acting strangely as patients’ hearts got sicker. He also noticed that white blood cells showed levels of the aberrant SCN5A that correlated closely with levels expressed on heart muscle. By studying white blood cells drawn from a typical blood test, he is, in effect, able to perform a micro heart biopsy. The key to his research is the discovery that elevated, abnormal SCN5A levels on white blood cells seemed to predict SCD events up to a year in advance. In a study he performed on 106 patients with heart failure, the test correctly identified every patient whose ICD would provide a life-saving shock in the coming year.
In June 2014, Dr. Dudley’s research was published in the highly-respected peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Dudley and Polsky formed a company, 3PrimeDX, to commercialize this innovation. Over the past year, the company has begun raising the funds necessary to complete a large, confirmatory clinical trial and pursue FDA regulatory approval. Still, large challenges remain.
Research by its nature is expensive and finicky, and confirming a prior test result, and demonstrating that it provides consistent results, is never a slam dunk. Diagnostic tests need to be standardized and scaled up prior to commercialization, and the FDA needs to be convinced that the clinical benefits far outweigh the risks of false negative readings (telling a patient she’s safe, when she really isn’t). Once approved, physicians need to be convinced of a test’s utility and reliability prior to changing their customary clinical practices. Data is expected in 2017 that confirms that the technology works.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that 3PrimeDx faces is convincing payors (like insurance companies and Medicare) to reimburse for a risk-stratifying test that may result in more defibrillators being placed.
Ultimately the founders of 3PrimeDX would like to see their test adopted as a standard clinical tool for heart failure specialists to incorporate into their decision-making when considering defibrillator placement for patients. While the initial target market will focus on patients with existing heart failure symptoms, the ultimate goal is to expand the test to patients with no obvious risk factors who may be unknowingly walking towards disaster. Just like what happened to Lorenz Diesbergen when he stepped off the train in 2007. For Charles Polsky, it’s a personal mission.
Neil Kane (@neildkane) is the president of Illinois Partners which helps companies, universities and investors with innovation strategies and technology commercialization.
