Remote Pulmonary Artery Pressure Monitoring for Heart Failure with the CardioMEMS™ HF System

Heart failure specialists at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute offer remote pulmonary artery pressure monitoring, which monitors the pressure of the blood flow in your lungs. The device helps keep patients with heart failure out of the hospital and improves their quality of life.

Traditionally, cardiologists have had to rely on patient weight, blood pressure, and symptoms such as shortness of breath to detect worsening heart failure. These markers often do not give the care team enough time to treat the patient before hospitalization is necessary.  

Remote pulmonary artery pressure monitoring helps clinicians detect worsening heart failure and intervene quickly. One of the earliest signs of worsening heart failure is a rise in pressure inside the pulmonary artery (the artery that moves blood from the heart to the lungs). A change in pressure can happen weeks before symptoms are noticeable to the patient. 

Currently, the FDA-approved CardioMEMS™ Heart Failure (HF) System is most commonly used for pulmonary artery pressure monitoring. The dime-sized remote pulmonary artery pressure monitoring device is inserted into the pulmonary artery using a minimally invasive procedure without a large incision. The device sends daily pressure measurements to the cardiologist at Saint Luke’s. The care team then can adjust the patient’s medications or suggest other lifestyle changes as needed.

Remote pulmonary artery pressure monitoring using CardioMEMS HF System gives patients a sense of control by making them aware of the factors that affect their heart failure, such as diet and medication adherence. 

Patients who have been hospitalized with heart failure in the previous year may be good candidates for remote pulmonary pressure monitoring.

Schedule a consultation with a Saint Luke’s heart failure cardiologist by calling 816-931-1883 to see if remote monitoring is an option for you.

Learn more about the Heart Failure Program at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute.