Latest news with #PaulJansz
Sydney Morning Herald
10-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Michael thought he was just getting old. A world-first device changed his life
An Australian man has become the first in the world to be implanted with a next-generation device that mimics the heart's pulse, in what doctors have described as a quantum leap for technology that has saved thousands of lives from heart failure. The globally renowned cardiac surgical team at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital were chosen by French firm CorWave to perform the first in-human implant of their new left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which uses a wave-generating membrane – rather than a rotating pump – to push blood around the body. The team, led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Paul Jansz, successfully performed the surgery in May on Michael Smith, a grandfather and former meatworker from Leeton in the NSW Riverina. On Tuesday, Smith left hospital for the first time in three months, saying he felt better than he had in more than a decade. 'You've got to have one inside you to realise how good they are,' he said. 'I feel like I'm 21 again.' The 67-year-old was working at a meat processing plant south of Leeton until three months ago, when his doctor sent him to a cardiologist in nearby Griffith. 'I started feeling like I had no energy, but I just put it down to old age. It wasn't – it was heart failure,' he said. 'He [the cardiologist] put me in hospital straight away … he knew how bad it was.' Smith was soon airlifted to St Vincent's, where he remained until the procedure on May 20.
The Age
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
Michael thought he was just getting old. A world-first device changed his life
An Australian man has become the first in the world to be implanted with a next-generation device that mimics the heart's pulse, in what doctors have described as a quantum leap for technology that has saved thousands of lives from heart failure. The globally renowned cardiac surgical team at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital were chosen by French firm CorWave to perform the first in-human implant of their new left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which uses a wave-generating membrane – rather than a rotating pump – to push blood around the body. The team, led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Paul Jansz, successfully performed the surgery in May on Michael Smith, a grandfather and former meatworker from Leeton in the NSW Riverina. On Tuesday, Smith left hospital for the first time in three months, saying he felt better than he had in more than a decade. 'You've got to have one inside you to realise how good they are,' he said. 'I feel like I'm 21 again.' The 67-year-old was working at a meat processing plant south of Leeton until three months ago, when his doctor sent him to a cardiologist in nearby Griffith. 'I started feeling like I had no energy, but I just put it down to old age. It wasn't – it was heart failure,' he said. 'He [the cardiologist] put me in hospital straight away … he knew how bad it was.' Smith was soon airlifted from the local hospital to St Vincent's, where he remained until the procedure on May 20.
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.
