Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP) is a procedure performed on individuals with ischemic cardiomyopathy in order to diminish the symptoms of their ischemia. In various studies, EECP has been shown to relieve angina, improve exercise tolerance, and decrease the degree of ischemia in a cardiac stress test.
EECP therapy is an outpatient treatment for angina and heart failure. Treatments are usually given for an hour each day, five days a week, for a total of 35 hours. During the treatment, you lie on a comfortable treatment table with large blood pressure-like cuffs wrapped around your legs and buttocks. These cuffs inflate and deflate at specific times between your heartbeats. A continuous electro cardiogram (ECG) is used to set the timing so the cuffs inflate while the heart is at rest, when it normally gets its supply of blood and oxygen. The cuffs deflate at the end of that rest period, just before the next heart beat. A special sensor applied to your finger checks the oxygen level in your blood and monitors the pressure waves created by the cuff inflations and deflations.
