Latest news with #ArtificialHeartFrontiersProgram
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Australian Man Survives a Record 105 Days with Artificial Titanium Heart While Awaiting Donor
An Australian man with severe heart failure lived for a record 105 days with a metal heart while he waited for a donor heart to become available. He's the first person in the world to be discharged from the hospital with the titanium device, living at home for about a month before receiving his donor heart. The transplant took place on November 22, 2024, during a six-hour procedure at St. Vincent Hospital Sydney, according to a statement from Monash University. The transplant was part of the hospital's Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, which designs and tests new devices like pumps as well as the BiVACOR's Total Artificial Heart (TAH) — which this patient received. Related: P.E. Teacher, 23, 'Felt Something Was Wrong' After First Marathon, Learns He Has Heart Disease a Week Later (Exclusive) The man, who declined to be identified, is in his early 40s and from New South Wales, Australia. He was well enough to be discharged from the hospital in early February with his artificial titanium heart and received his donor heart on March 6. Now he is "recovering well," according to the Monash University statement. The successful procedure 'ushers in a whole new ball game for heart transplants,' Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St. Vincent Hospital, said. 'Within the next decade, we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The titanium device has a small external controller with rechargeable batteries, according to manufacturer BiVACOR, which says it's 'designed to be a long-term device that can replace the total function of the patient's native heart.' The first implantation of the metal heart took place at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Texas Medical Center last July. Four more implants have taken place in the U.S., but this case marks the longest someone has lived with the heart while awaiting a donor. 'The long-term ambition is for implant recipients to be able to live with their device,' the statement says, 'without needing a heart transplant.' Read the original article on People
Express Tribune
12-03-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Australian man survives 100 days with artificial heart before transplant
Listen to article An Australian man with severe heart failure has become the first person to survive more than 100 days with a total artificial heart implant before receiving a donor transplant, doctors announced on Wednesday. The BiVACOR total artificial heart, designed by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, is the world's first rotary blood pump that fully replaces the human heart. The implant, still in early clinical trials, uses magnetic levitation to replicate natural blood flow and is intended as a bridge for patients awaiting transplants. The patient, a man in his 40s from New South Wales, received the device at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in a six-hour surgery on 22 November. He was discharged with the implant in February and later received a donor heart in early March. Surgeon Paul Jansz, who led the procedure, called it a historic moment for Australian medicine. "We've worked towards this for years, and we're enormously proud to be the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure," he said. Previous BiVACOR implants have been performed in the United States, but none of those patients lived beyond 27 days before receiving a donor heart. Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St Vincent's, said the success of the Australian case could reshape global heart failure treatment. "Within the next decade, artificial hearts could become the alternative for those who cannot wait for a donor heart," he said. While experts hailed the achievement, cardiologist Professor David Colquhoun cautioned that artificial hearts still have a long way to go before replacing transplants, as donor hearts can last more than a decade. The procedure is part of Australia's Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, led by Monash University, which aims to develop new devices for advanced heart failure treatment.
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Australian man survives 100 days with artificial heart in world-first success
An Australian man with heart failure has become the first person in the world to walk out of a hospital discharged with a total artificial heart implant. The Australian researchers and doctors behind the operation announced on Wednesday that the implant was an 'unmitigated clinical success' after the man lived with the device for more than 100 days before receiving a donor heart transplant in early March. The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, invented by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, is the world's first implantable rotary blood pump that can act as a complete replacement for a human heart, using magnetic levitation technology to replicate the natural blood flow of a healthy heart. The implant, still in the early stages of clinical study, has been designed for patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure, which generally develops after other conditions – most commonly heart attack and coronary heart disease, but also other diseases such as diabetes – have damaged or weakened the heart so that it cannot effectively pump blood through the body effectively. Every year, over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure, but only 6,000 will receive a donor heart, according to the Australian government who provided $50m to develop and commercialise the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart as part of the Artificial Heart Frontiers Program. The implant is designed as a bridge to keep patients alive until a donor heart transplant becomes available, but BiVACOR's long-term ambition is for implant recipients to be able to live with their device without needing a heart transplant. The patient, a man in his forties from New South Wales who was experiencing severe heart failure, volunteered to become the first recipient of the total artificial heart in Australia, and the sixth in the world. The first five implants took place earlier in 2024 in the United States, and all received donor hearts before being discharged from hospital, with the longest time in between implant and transplant 27 days. The Australian patient's implant took place on 22 November 2024 at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney in a six-hour procedure led by the cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Dr Paul Jansz. The Australian patient, who declined to be identified, was discharged from the hospital with the implant in February. A donor heart became available to be transplanted in March. Jansz said it was a privilege to be part of such an historic and pioneering Australian medical event. 'We've worked towards this moment for years and we're enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure,' Jansz said. Prof Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St Vincent's, who led the observation of the man in after a few weeks in the intensive care unit, said the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart would transform heart failure treatment internationally. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart ushers in a whole new ball game for heart transplants, both in Australia and internationally,' he said. 'Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available.' Prof David Colquhoun from the University of Queensland and board member of the Heart Foundation, who was not involved in the trial, said the success so far was a 'great technological step forward for artificial hearts - bridging hearts – before transplant'. However, Colquhoun cautioned that the functioning timespan of the artificial heart – more than 100 days – was still significantly less than that of a donor heart, which is over 10 years (or 3000 days). Colquhoun said for that reason it was still 'a long way to go' before the artificial heart could be considered a replacement for a heart transplant. He emphasised however the numbers per population experiencing heart failure are far less because of the heart medications now available – the peak of death rate from heart disease was around 1967-68 with 47,000 Australians dying from heart disease out of a then population of 11 million, compared with 45,000 of 22 million Australians in 2022. The implant is the first in a series of procedures planned in Australia as part of the Monash University-led Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, which is developing three key devices to treat the most common forms of heart failure.
