Health Watch | Breathing On Their Own | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fresno, CA A year ago, paramedics rushed Jenny Sorenson to the ER. She thought she was having a heart attack.

"Six days later, I was paralyzed from the neck down," Sorenson told Ivanhoe.

A rare condition cut off blood to Sorenson's spine. She depended on a ventilator to stay alive.

"I have to have someone with me 24 hours a day just to make sure I can breathe," Sorenson said.

That could change with diaphragm pacing stimulation, or DPS. Sorenson had one implanted three months ago. Electrodes in the diaphragm connect to an external unit that works like a pacemaker.

"We pace the diaphragm because that individual may not be able to pace their own diaphragm," Brock Bowman, M.D., Associate Medical Director of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga., told Ivanhoe. "We pace it externally."

Sorenson's learning to breathe on her own, hoping she can get rid of the ventilator for good.

"Oh, it'd be awesome," she said. "That's my goal."

In a clinical trial, 50 percent of the patients were able to eliminate the need for mechanical ventilation. Patients using DPS had less damage to their lungs and a lower risk of infection and pneumonia.

"It's a huge deal to breathe naturally just like everyone else," Don Pollard told Ivanhoe.

Pollard has been paralyzed since he was one. His ventilator is replaced by a controller, the stimulator in his chest, and a new burst of energy.

Doctors say the DPS system is healthier for patients than the traditional ventilator system. Long-term, a ventilator can be damaging to the lungs, and the tubes increase the risk of infection. The device is FDA-approved.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Jane Sanders
Public Relations
Shepherd's Center
Atlanta, GA
(404) 350-7707