Sorin Group, a global leader in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, announced the first implant of a new, state-of-the-art battery technology, which was performed by a member of the OU Health Sciences Center medical team earlier this month.

Dr. Dwight Reynolds, section chief of cardiology at the OU Health Sciences Center, performed the first implant of Paradym CRT, Sorin Group’s next generation of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator.

“The normal contractions of the heart chambers are precisely synchronized and follow a strictly defined sequence,” Reynolds said. “When this synchronization becomes disrupted, the amount of blood pumped with each beat is reduced, which is a cause of heart failure.”

Reynolds said Paradym CRT is an important tool because it paces the heart’s right and left ventricles to resynchronize their contraction and attempt to increase the cardiac output.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Paradym CRT delivers 37 Joules, the highest energy of any implantable cardiac defibrillator currently available, he said.

“I’m impressed with the Sorin technology,” Reynolds said. “They have managed to pack a lot of power into a small can without compromising on features, good charge times or longevity.”

In addition, Paradym CRT offers consistent charge times throughout the life of the device, improved longevity and a six-month Elective Replacement Indicator to End of Service period, twice as long as any other implantable cardiac defibrillator, he said.

Reynolds also said Paradym CRT features the PARAD+ detection algorithm, whose superior specificity in discriminating ventricular arrhythmias has been clinically proven.

“I especially like the six months longevity post-ERI and the PARAD+ discrimination algorithm to minimize inappropriate shocks,” Reynolds said. “That is extremely important to both my patients and myself.”

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, a number of studies have demonstrated the absolute risk of experiencing an inappropriate shock has been observed to be only 5 percent, the lowest percentage recorded thus far.

Sorin Group is proud to announce the release of Paradym CRT into the U.S. market, Stefano Di Lullo, president of cardiac rhythm management, said in a statement.

“This approval, combined with the first worldwide enrollment into our CLEPSYDRA clinical trial, also occurring in the U.S., demonstrates our commitment to the U.S. market and the strengthening of our innovative leadership in the hemodynamic management of heart failure,” Di Lullo said.

According to the company’s Web site, Sorin Group is a global medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The company develops, manufactures and markets medical technologies for cardiac surgery and for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders.

Sorin Group focuses on three major therapeutic areas that include cardiopulmonary bypass, cardiac rhythm management and heart valve repair and replacement, the Web site stated.

For more information, visit www.sorin.com.