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A Medical Breakthrough That Protects Against Heart Failure
Nearly 1 in 7 of us will eventually die of heart failure — but a new device offers the promise of longer life and freedom from fear
5-minute read
Taylor Callery
A massive heart attack at age 60 slashed the pumping power of Angie Lindsey’s heart by more than 50 percent, leaving her breathless, tired and worried. Three years later, the licensed nursing home administrator from East Prairie, Missouri, was back in the hospital with advanced heart failure.
She left her job but continued to struggle. A new emergency early this year landed her in the Heart Failure Program at Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis: She’d suddenly retained 29 pounds of fluid, a sign of a rapidly weakening heart.
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In the hospital, Lindsey said yes to receiving the CardioMEMS HF System, which includes a tiny, high-tech sensor that detects signs of worsening heart failure days to weeks before symptoms become noticeable. The warning gives physicians or nurses time to adjust medication and suggest lifestyle changes.
A smart device, the CardioMEMS PA Sensor, was implanted in the pulmonary artery of her left lung in a minimally invasive procedure. About 0.1 inch long and the thickness of a quarter, the sensor is held securely in place by small, flexible wire loops. The full sensor is the size of a small paper clip. It measures blood pressure in Lindsey’s pulmonary artery, transmitting numbers to her heart failure team every morning with a data reader called the HERO Device, which was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2026.
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Lindsey, now 66, simply puts the reader on her bed, switches it on and lies on it for a few minutes. The design makes it small and light enough to take along on trips.
Caused by weakened or stiff heart muscle and valves, heart failure is responsible for more than 14 percent of U.S. deaths, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and swelling in the legs or abdomen.
Heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, infections and genetics can all increase the odds, with risk rising after age 70. A healthy lifestyle and a research-proven combination of four medications can control heart failure, slow its progression and improve survival by 73 percent in patients with a weak heart. But many aren’t receiving these drugs — and many people with heart failure don’t even know they have it, says Lindsey’s cardiologist, Dr. Charles F. Carey, director of the Heart Failure Program at Mercy Hospital South.
In recent studies, people with the CardioMEMS device were 57 percent less likely to end up in the hospital because of heart failure and more likely to stay alive.
“For Angie, it helps keep her out of the hospital and reduces her chance of dying by about 25 percent,” Carey says.
About five days after Lindsey’s CardioMEMS PA Sensor was implanted, Carey’s heart failure team called her. Her pulmonary artery pressure was rising. They changed some medications and doses, kept following her numbers and saw her via a virtual medical visit a few days later. A crisis was averted.
“I know the device works,” she says. Feeling confident, Lindsey went on vacation to a Florida beach this spring, and she’s planning a trip to Texas to see her favorite K-pop band, South Korea’s BTS.
“I don’t just want to sit at home and exist,” she says. “There are things that I want to do.”
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