Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute is first in Minnesota to implant Barostim Therapy to improve symptoms of heart failure

MINNEAPOLIS (Jan. 29, 2024) – Allina Health is pleased to announce that an Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute team has successfully completed the first Barostim™ Baroreflex Activation Therapy implant in the state of Minnesota. The procedure was performed at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. 

75-year-old James Bennett of Brainerd, Minnesota has had three heart attacks in the last three years, which led to congestive heart failure. (Bennett and his wife, Sally, pictured below.)

“I felt weak and tired all the time and knew I didn’t want to spend my life sitting in the living room chair. When my doctor recommended Barostim and gave me the option to feel better, I was ready for a change,” said Bennett.

The procedure was performed by Jeffrey Jim, MD, FACS, Chair of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, and referred by Peter Eckman, MD, Heart Failure Section Head at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute.

“Not only are we proud to be offering Barostim at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, but we are excited to be the first hospital in the state of Minnesota to make this novel therapy available for heart failure patients,” said Dr. Eckman. “With this milestone, more patients now have access to a treatment option to help reduce their heart failure symptoms and improve their quality of life when medications alone are not enough.”

Following the implant and subsequent clinical follow-ups with his physician, Bennett has begun to feel symptom improvements from the therapy. “My wife and I have 3.5 acres of land and, since receiving Barostim, I’m back mowing. I’m able to do yardwork, get outside and spend time being active,” said Bennett, a father of three and grandfather of eight. 

Barostim, the world’s first FDA-approved neuromodulation heart failure device, works by stimulating baroreceptors – natural sensors located in the wall of the carotid artery – that tell the nervous system how to regulate heart, kidney and vascular function. These effects may reduce the heart’s workload and help it pump more efficiently, improving the heart failure symptoms of patients with systolic heart failure.

"Congratulations to Dr. Jim, Dr. Eckman and Abbott Northwestern Hospital on successfully completing this first implant procedure of Barostim," said Nadim Yared, President and CEO of CVRx. "We value our collaboration with them and commend their ongoing efforts to advance the treatment of heart failure symptoms.”

This procedure also marks the first Barostim implant for CVRx on the home front. The company received FDA approval for Barostim in August 2019, and now adds Allina Health’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital to its growing, active total implanting sites throughout the U.S. of 178.