Heart device that Wilford Brimley says saved his life now out of clinical trials in Utah

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune

Device recipient Mary Ellen Kaull talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune

Device recipient Wilford Brimley talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune

Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Pete Weiss, MD, talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune

Device recipient Marcia Swenson talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune

Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Brian Whisenant, MD, right, and patient Wilford Brimley talk about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

1 of 12

Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Mary Ellen Kaull talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Wilford Brimley talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Pete Weiss, MD, talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Marcia Swenson talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Mary Ellen Kaull talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Marcia Swenson talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Brian Whisenant, MD, right, and patient Wilford Brimley talk about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Pete Weiss, MD, talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Brian Whisenant, MD, right, and patient Wilford Brimley talk about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Device recipient Wilford Brimley talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Pete Weiss, MD, talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016. Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Intermountain Medical enter Heart Institute cardiologist Pete Weiss, MD, talks about the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device, back, a life-saving and heart-preserving cardiac device that has been tested extensively in clinical trials by scientists and cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray. The device will be available this month, for the first time, to all eligible Utah patients for widespread clinical care outside of the research arena. The device is the first and only one of its kind available in the United States. The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has been one of the leading national research sites, and is the first and only Utah hospital authorized to implant the device at this point. The device was introduced at a press conference at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center in Murray, Utah Monday May 16, 2016.

By Alex Stuckey The Salt Lake Tribune

· May 16, 2016 10:41 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Wilford Brimley drove back and forth from Wyoming many times after having a stroke-preventing heart device implanted in 2011 as part of a clinical trial at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

The worst thing he gave up to do that? Death.

"The worst thing they did to me was save my life and improve my quality a hundredfold," said Brimley, 81, on Monday at a news conference announcing that the device will be available this month to all eligible Utahns.

The parachute-like device, about the size of a quarter, is meant to help reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, one of the most common heart rhythm disorders.

It is permanently implanted in a pouch in the left chamber of the heart, known as the left atrial appendage, which is "essential in the causation of stroke in many patients with atrial fibrillation," said Pete Weiss, a heart rhythm specialist at the hospital.

Weiss said the procedure can take a half-hour or less and patients often go home the next day.

It is designed for patients who struggle with blood-thinning medication — or, as Brimley calls it, "rat poison."

Blood thinning medication "is not good for you in any way, stretch or form," Brimley said.

About five years after having the device implanted, Brimley said he only takes a baby Aspirin once a day.

Brimley was one of more than 130 clinical trial participants enrolled at the institute, which was one of about 60 centers across the country to conduct research on the device.

Brian Whisenant, a cardiologist at the institute, has been implanting the device in patients since 2005.

The heart institute currently is the only hospital in Utah able to implant these devices, but Jess Gomez, Intermountain Healthcare spokesman, said doctors will begin training others across the state. The device will be covered by Medicare and insurance companies, he said.