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The Cardiovascular Clinic of West Tennessee is at 2968 North Highland, next to North Side High School. Dr. Adey Agbetoyin is a board-certified, invasive cardiologist who has been practicing cardiovascular medicine in Jackson since 2003. In 2008, Michelle Hickerson, APN, a cardiovascular nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice, joined the clinic.
For more information or an appointment, call the clinic at 731.256.1819 or visit his website at www.cvctn.com.






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Dr. Adey Agbetoyin checks on patient Ralph Moore, who is undergoing External Counterpulsation Therapy for chronic chest pain.

New treatment an option for chest pain

Patients with chest pain from coronary artery disease and who are not candidates for stents or bypass surgery can find relief in a new treatment option.

Called External Counterpulsation (ECP) therapy, this FDA-approved, non-invasive treatment is available at the Cardiovascular Clinic of West Tennessee.

“It is an excellent alternative for patients with heart artery blockages who have been turned down for angioplasty/stents or surgery because of contraindications,” says Dr. Adey Agbetoyin, founder of the Cardiovascular Clinic. “Without treatment, these patients have to live with disabling chest pain and heart failure.”

Dr. Agbetoyin, a board-certified cardiologist, is the only cardiovascular specialist in the West Tennessee Physicians Alliance to offer External Counterpulsation Therapy in his clinic.

“There’s a need for it in Jackson,” he says. ‘This treatment is offered at the country’s leading cardiovascular treatment centers, including the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, University of California at San Diego and the Duke University Medical Center, and we are excited to make it available to patients in West Tennessee.”

The treatment is non-invasive, painless, and when used in conjunction with intensive medical therapy, a low-fat diet and cholesterol management, it is effective in getting patients free of chest pain symptoms so they can lead a full, active life, he said.

Nationally, 6.5 million people suffer from chronic chest pain and chronic angina, and the number is expected to grow. Dr. Agbetoyin sees more people with heart disease and chronic chest pain these days due to diabetes, smoking, obesity and unhealthy dietary habits.

Coronary artery disease, he explained, is usually caused by plaque build-up in the coronary arteries, which reduces blood flow to the heart, causing chest pain or angina. “If left untreated, it can cause severe damage to the heart muscle, leading to heart failure.” “Most patients have focal heart artery blockages that can be easily treated using techniques such as angioplasty, stent placement or open heart bypass surgery.”

However, some patients have blood vessels that are too small for bypass surgery or stent placement, Dr. Agbetoyin said. Other patients have extensive, diffuse heart artery blockages and will not respond to stents or bypass surgery.

“Some of these patients may experience daily chest pain while carrying out minor activities or even at rest, rendering them disabled and severely impairing quality of life. These groups are appropriate candidates for ECP.” (Patients with blood clots in the legs, abdominal aortic aneurysm or certain heart valve disorders are not candidates for the treatment.)

ECP treatment works by improving blood flow to the heart muscle. During ECP therapy, the patient lies on a comfortable treatment table. Pressure cuffs, similar to those used to take blood pressure, are placed around a patient’s calves, lower thighs and upper thighs. The inflation and deflation of the cuffs is timed to the patient’s heartbeat.

The beneficial effects are two-fold …
• The increased pressure from the device improves the function of the patient’s damaged blood vessels, pushes blood back into the heart arteries and stimulates the development of new collateral blood vessels, which function as “natural bypasses” that re-route blood flow around the blocked part of the vessel. This increases the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart muscle, and, over time, this increase in oxygenated blood reduces or eliminates angina and other related symptoms.
• Secondly, treatments improve circulation and help heart failure patients by enhancing cardiac output. ECP therapy improves the patient’s quality of life, such as exercise capacity and frequency of chest pain episodes. Emerging clinical data also suggests a benefit in curtailing heart failure symptoms.

ECP therapy usually consists of 35 one-hour sessions. Treatments can be done daily, five days a week for seven weeks, but can be customized for certain patients.

Medicare and several commercial insurances cover the treatments. The low-risk procedure is less expensive than some other treatments, Dr. Agbetoyin says. “It is done in the convenience of the clinic setting.”

Dr. Agbetoyin, who started offering the treatment in April 2009, has seen positive results from the treatment in his own patients. “One female patient, who had been frequently admitted to the hospital with chest pain and heart failure, responded well to ECP treatments and is now off nitroglycerin tablets completely,” he says. Clinical studies have shown a significant number of patients remain symptom free for up to three years. About 80 percent of patients respond to the treatment.

“ECP Therapy doesn’t replace invasive treatments like angioplasty, stinting or bypass surgery,” said Dr. Agbetoyin. “For the right patient, though, this really is a good treatment.”