Clinical Practice of EECP in Non-Cardiac Disease in China

Introduction Enhanced external counterpulsation is a technique using a set of cuffs that are wrapped around the lower part of the body. During treatment, pressure is sequentially applied via the cuffs to the lower extremities of the patient synchronized by cardiac cycle. At early diastole, pressure is applied sequentially from the lower legs to the lower and upper thighs, to propel blood back to the heart. The procedure results in an increase in arterial blood pressure, retrograde aortic blood flow during diastole (diastolic augmentation), and systolic unloading, thus leads to enhanced flow perfusion not only to heart, but other ischemic organs, such as brain, kidney, eye, liver, etc. In 1976, a new external counterpulsation device applying pressure sequentially on the legs and thighs was successfully developed by Zheng and his colleagues in China and was further developed into enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) in 1982. Since then, it has been extensively applied to clinical practice in China, and hundreds of reports have confirmed its safety and efficacy in coronary heart disease and other ischemic-related non-cardiac diseases. This article will review and discuss EECP applications in non-cardiac diseases involving brain, kidney, eye, and periphery.