Enhanced External Counter-pulsation (EECP®) Therapy
An increasing number of patients who have persistent angina symptoms have
exhausted the standard treatments options without relief. EECP® therapy may help.
Are you a candidate?
- Do you have chronic stable angina?
- Are you taking nitrates that don’t provide adequate relief?
- Has your doctor told you that you do not qualify for invasive procedures
like bypass surgery, angioplasty, or stenting?
EECP® is a non-invasive, outpatient therapy. During treatment, patients
lie down on a padded table in a treatment room where three electrodes
are placed on the chest to monitor activity. A set of cuffs is then wrapped
around the calves, thighs and buttocks. These cuffs attach to air hoses
that connect to valves that inflate and deflate the cuffs that are electronically
synchronized with the heartbeat and blood pressure.
EECP® therapy gently but firmly compresses the blood vessels in the
lower limbs to increase blood flow to the heart. Each wave of pressure
is electronically timed to the heartbeat, so that the increased blood
flow is delivered to your heart at the precise moment it is relaxing.
When the heart pumps again, pressure is released instantaneously. This
lowers resistance in the blood vessels in the legs so that blood may be
pumped more easily from your heart.
EECP® therapy can eventually cause blood vessels to open small channels
that become extra branches. These new channels may eventually become “natural
bypass” vessels to provide blood flow to heart muscle, which contributes
to the relief of angina symptoms.
Other benefits may include:
- Less need or no need for anti-angina medications
- Decreased insulin use
- Decreased or no angina symptoms
- Increased ability to do activities without symptoms
- Ability to return to better quality of life
Winchester Medical Center offers EECP® therapy. Benefits of EECP®
therapy may last up to 2 years. Each patient is placed on a 35 day treatment
plan, one hour each day, five days per week. For more information, please
call the EECP® Clinic at Winchester Medical Center at 540-536-0517
(fax: 540- 536-0249). A physician’s referral is required for treatment.