Supporting the aspirations for tomorrow

EXPERTS IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
SORIN GROUP’s success is built around its cardiovascular products and related therapeutic services. After divesting its non-core businesses, SORIN GROUP is now focusing on cardiovascular activities: Cardiopulmonary, Heart Valves and Cardiac Rhythm Management. Through continued expansion and development, SORIN GROUP has established itself as a market leader within cardiovascular device technology. Bolstered by a strong financial trajectory and the drive to continuously improve patient care, SORIN GROUP has ambitious plans for future expansion. SORIN GROUP is committed to focusing on long-term growth in the cardiovascular market by leveraging on R&D innovation, geographical expansion and potential acquisitions.

EXCELLENCE IN QUALITY AND ETHICS
SORIN GROUP’s devices are built to save lives. Across the globe we strive for the highest levels of performance and quality while maintaining rigorous standards of ethics in our business practices.

Saving the lives of disadvantaged children with heart diseases

Since January 2010, Sorin Group has established a long-term partnership with Bambini Cardiopatici Nel Mondo, a charitable organization that provides pediatric cardiac surgery in developing countries.

The agreement provides for regular charitable donations in support of the organization’s humanitarian activities. Direct financial contributions will amount to no less than EUR 600,000 over three years, while Sorin will also donate its life-saving medical devices to the organization.

Sorin employees are also participating actively as volunteers in the work of Bambini Cardiopatici nel Mondo.

To date Bambini Cardiopaticci Nel Mondo and its 150 active volunteers have performed over 1,000 operations in 23 countries.

The Heart

The heart is a vital human organ approximately the size of a fist. Its purpose is to deliver oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Each time the heart "beats" it is expanding to fill with blood and then contracting to force blood through the arteries to all of the body's organs and extremities.

In essence, the heart is a pump, and like other mechanical pumps, it can become clogged, leak, break down and require repair.

The heart's four valves play a vital role with every heartbeat. When the heart's ventricles fill with blood, the mitral and tricuspid valves automatically shut, preventing blood from flowing backward into the atria. As the ventricles contract, the pulmonic and aortic valves open, allowing blood to be "pumped" through these open valves into the body.
When the ventricles finish their contraction, the pulmonic and aortic valves shut, preventing blood from flowing back into the ventricles.

Did you know the heart repeats this whole process an average of 70 times per minute, 4,200 times per hour, and more than 100,000 times per day?

Cardiac Rhythm Management

CRT Device Implant

The normal contractions of the heart chambers (atria and ventricles) are precisely synchronized and follow a strictly defined sequence. When this synchronization becomes disrupted, the amount of blood pumped with each beat is reduced, which is a cause of heart failure. A Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) device paces the heart (using the same small electrical impulses as a standard pacemaker) both in the right and the left ventricles in order to resynchronize their contraction and attempt to increase the cardiac output.

There are two types of CRT devices:

Cardiac Resynchronization Pacemakers (CRT-P), which help resynchronize the heart contractions by pacing both ventricles simultaneously. In order to function properly, pacing leads (wires) must be placed in the right atrium, the right ventricle, and inside a cardiac vein to pace the left ventricle. All the leads can be implanted through the veins, without having to open the chest.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-D) performs the same functions as a CRT-P, and can also deliver the therapies of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in case ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation occurs. In patients presenting with heart failure, who are at high risk of cardiac arrest, the CRT-D can support the pumping action of the heart and protect against life-threatening arrhythmias.

How is a CRT Device implanted ?

Whether the CRT device is placed in the chest or abdominal wall, the skin needs to be incised. Some doctors prefer to place the CRT device immediately below the skin, while others prefer to place it under a muscle. In either case, a "pocket" is created to bury the device, most often under the left collar bone.

First, 2 leads are usually introduced through a vein, and placed in the right atrium and right ventricle, respectively. Their position is verified by x-ray, before testing to ensure that they are in close contact with the heart muscle.

The CRT-P and CRT-D procedures require the implantation of an additional lead to pace the left ventricle, while the leads of standard pacemakers and ICDs are limited to the right side of the heart. The additional lead is placed inside a vein on the surface of the left ventricle through a guiding catheter (thin tube) advanced into the right atrium like a pacemaker lead.

From the right atrium, the lead enters a large vein, called the coronary sinus. Then, it is advanced to its final position on the left ventricle. An x-ray picture of the veins around the heart is often taken during the procedure to help guide the lead placement. This requires the injection of liquid contrast material inside the coronary sinus. In most, but not all cases there is a suitable vein for the placement of the left-sided lead.

The CRT device implantation procedure is usually performed under general anesthesia, although deep sedation might suffice. Your doctor will discuss this with you. The device is implanted in the chest wall or in the abdominal wall, depending on the model chosen. This decision also depends on:

the patient’s dimensions, shape, age and heart size whether prior chest surgery has been performed routine activities and lifestyle which method is safest in individual circumstances

The leads are connected to the device, which is then placed in the pocket.

At the end of the procedure, the guiding catheter is removed and the left-sided lead is left in place and tested. An ultrasound study of the heart (echocardiogram) might be required to help find the pacing site that provides the most effective resynchronization by the CRT system. This test requires only external monitoring and is pain-free.