Regardless of the demographics, size and geographic location of your patient population, the LATITUDE® Patient Management system gives you the power to impact patient outcomes through the use of clinical event monitoring. The following testimonials highlight the value of remote monitoring for the physicians and healthcare professionals who have implemented the LATITUDE system at their clinics.

Having the Critical Information Needed for Treatment Decisions

"All patients are important, but all physicians have a certain one that stands out in the memory. I remember meeting Carl in the office. He was somewhat apprehensive about receiving the device in the first place, let alone the remote monitoring system. We knew that, clinically, it was the best thing for him. But when you put yourself in Carl's shoes, he was a gentleman that got dizzy every now and then and just kind of drifted off to sleep, in his own words.

"We put the defibrillator in him, the biventricular defibrillator, and shortly after receiving it, the gentleman received defibrillator discharges. It's a very frightening experience for a patient. Because the patient's understanding is, I went to see this man because I was dizzy and now suddenly this machine is popping me and why is this happening? And what we came to learn with Carl was what we saw was simply the tip of the iceberg. This gentleman was in great danger. He was trying to die on us. The device saved his life several times and enabled us to make proper decisions.

"Without this system, first of all, there would be no Carl. Second of all, if he had survived the episode of cardiac arrest, if he was fortunate enough to be the 1-in-10 who survived it and the 1-in-20 who leaves the hospital with their brain in tact, then he would have received the system. Early implantation is the key to saving lives in this epidemic of sudden death. And early remote monitoring, as we can see quite clearly, is the key to making critical decisions. The key to making critical decisions is proper therapy. So from a personal perspective, we were able to not only save this man but actually help him and realize quickly that he needed far more aggressive therapy than any of us and any of his clinicians knew."

Dr. Mark Dixon, Electrophysiologist
Northern Indiana Heart Rhythm Specialists, Munster, Indiana

Note: The video link requires that you have Apple QuickTime installed on your computer.

View the case study (QuickTime Video) »

Early Detection of Device Lead Impedance

"The Active Monitoring™ component of the LATITUDE system through earlier insight into a change in the patient's lead status allowed me to provide a higher level of service in a more timely manner. Under normal operating procedures, [a configuration that was not allowing proper sensing or pacing] may not have been detected for several weeks.

"However, with the LATITUDE system, it was rapidly identified and the health care team was able to bring the patient in to correct the problem. Therefore, the benefits of a home monitoring system [do] provide an increased level of surveillance for our patients and may reduce underreporting of device malfunctions by determining the functional status of an implanted device more frequently and more accurately."

William Nesbitt, MD, Electrophysiologist
Arlington Memorial Hospital, Arlington, Texas

Early Detection Allowed Early Intervention

"By the ability to quickly recognize his episode of atrial fibrillation, we were able to see the patient in the office, cardiovert his atrial fibrillation through a commanded shock and the patient did not need to be hospitalized. With this patient, LATITUDE Active Monitoring™ gave me an early opportunity to identify an event previously associated with decompensation and intervene before the patient became symptomatic."

P. David Margolis, MD, FACC, Medical Director, Arrhythmia Services
Via Christi Regional Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas
Read the case study »

Increased Efficiency, Convenience and Assurance

"My device nurses have a clinic where we're following probably 4,000 to 5,000 patients at some kind of follow-up interval, so imagine what that's going to be next year and then two years and then three years from now. For a 15-minute device check in New York, you've got to drive for an hour through traffic, find parking, pay for parking, come up into the clinic and wait in the waiting room for a half an hour and then you get seen by my nurse for 15 minutes and she tells you everything's okay and then you fight another hour's worth of traffic to go home. Two and a half hours of headache and hassle for a 15-minute check to say everything's okay. [The LATITUDE system is] a huge convenience. Patients really like the idea that the device is being monitored. They've got this security blanket."

Dr. Kenneth Stein, Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of EP Program
Weill Cornell University Medical Center, New York City, New York

Monitoring Weight Fluctuations

"The LATITUDE [system] gives us a window of opportunity to identify early changes, especially weight fluctuations and changes in heart rate variability that often precedes the patient's symptoms and clinical decompensation. The LATITUDE [system] also enhances our relationship with our referring physicians."

P. David Margolis, MD, FACC, Medical Director, Arrhythmia Services
Monica Fouch, R.N., B.S.N., device clinic supervisor
Via Christi Regional Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas, Heartland Cardiology, P.C.
Read the case study »

Benefits to Patient Care and Clinical Practice

"Remote monitoring benefits our clinic by allowing us to closely follow this device patient....With LATITUDE, patient care can progress more rapidly. We no longer have to wait for the three-month check to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment."

Dr. Raul Weiss, F.A.C.C., Electrophysiologist
Marc Dutro, R.N., B.S., device clinic supervisor
Read the case study »

LATITUDE Patient Management system allows anytime, anywhere access to patient status and device data

Read the case study »

Timely Information Helps Resolve Defibrillation Lead Issue

A number of patients with Boston Scientific CRM ICDs and CRT-Ds have been implanted with other manufacturer's leads. The LATITUDE® Patient Management System can be integral in helping alert a physician to suspected lead fractures.

In this instance, the patient received a shock early in the morning and called her doctor's office. The patient was instructed to perform a Patient Initiated Interrogation. The information available on the LATITUDE website indicated that the patient's atrial and shock EGM showed normal sinus rhythm, but the right ventricular lead was registering noise that led to shock delivery. The patient was instructed to come into the office for further evaluation. After evaluating all of the available information and considering the fact that the lead was under a product advisory for possible lead fracture, the patient was scheduled for a lead extraction that same day.

“The information provide by the LATITUDE system helped me understand quickly what was happening with my patient and led to a safe resolution of this issue.”

Dr. Aaron Hesselson, Electrophysiologist
Central Baptist Hospital , Lexington , KY

Download this case study in PDF format »