A "life-changing" device helped save this Philadelphia-area woman with heart disease

Heart disease is expected to spike over the next 25 years among younger women, according to a new warning from the American Heart Association.

Doctors at Jefferson Einstein Hospital are now using an FDA-approved device that is like a pacemaker and is making a difference for people with heart failure.

Tonia Pezzano is among a growing number of younger women with cardiovascular disease. She was diagnosed with heart failure when she was 41 years old.

"It was horrifying," Pezzano said.

Pezzano was pregnant at the time.

"That's just scary because now you don't know what's going to happen with the baby and, you know, or myself," Pezzano said.

After the baby was born in 2018, Pezzano got a pacemaker, but she still struggled with symptoms.

"I just was exhausted all the time," Pezzano said.

In December, Dr. Sumeet Mainigi at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital implanted a second device called a cardiac contractility modulation device, or CCM.

"It typically gets implanted in the shoulder area like a pacemaker," Mainigi said.

The CCM is connected to the heart, providing electrical impulses that help improve function.

"The device will stimulate the heart at a very specific time during the heart's contraction," Mainigi said, "and that helps to release more calcium in the heart and make the heart contract stronger. It's really a great godsend."

"I'm usually here every six months for my devices," Pezzano said.

She said the second device did the trick.

"I am able to do just simple things," Pezzano said. "I'm able to walk up and downstairs. I have two little kids, so I'm able to keep up with them."

Now at 48, she's living with heart failure that's managed mainly with the help of the CCM.

"It's definitely been life-changing," Pezzano said.

In addition to the two devices, Pezzano's heart failure is also controlled with medications.