Artificial heart implant saves Aussie in historic breakthrough
A man spent a record 105 days with a titanium heart in an Aussie breakthrough that could change the future of organ transplants.
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An artificial heart implant has kept a local man alive for more than 100 days in a world-first surgical breakthrough at an Australian hospital.
The man, now recovering well, became just the sixth person in the world, and first outside the United States, to receive the mechanical heart implant when he underwent surgery last November in Sydney.
The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart kept him alive for a record 105 days, until a donated organ was available, and has been heralded as a “revolutionary milestone in Australian medical history”.
It was such a success that – in a world-first – doctors were able to discharge the man from hospital in early February while he still had the mechanical heart.
The titanium ‘heart’ is in early clinical trials and aims to buy time for daying patients on the organ waitlist.
But the ultimate, long-term goal is to create an artificial alternative to donated organs.
The world’s first BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart implant was only performed in July last year, less than six months before the Australian operation.
News of the historic milestone was announced on Wednesday morning, after a donor heart became available and the man – who declined to be identified – underwent a successful heart transplant on March 6.
The man, in his 40s, had severe heart failure when he volunteered to be the first Australian patient and underwent a six-hour operation, led by St Vincent’s cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon, Dr Paul Jansz.
It is the first of several Australian procedures planned under the Artificial Health Frontiers Program, which is led by Melbourne’s very own Monash University and received a $50m grant from the Australian Government.
BiVACOR founder Dr Daniel Timms, who was born in Queensland, said it was “immensely important” to him that he bring the technology here, and involve Australia in the first clinical trials.
“The entire BiVACOR team is deeply grateful to the patient and his family for placing their trust in our Total Artificial Heart,” he said.
“Their bravery will pave the way for countless more patients to receive this lifesaving technology.”
BiVACOR has described their total artificial heart as a “small, compact” titanium device that can pump blood to the body and lungs, and “completely replace the function of the native heart”.
While heart transplants can save patients with heart failure, demand for donated organs outstrips supply.
The mechanical heart is designed to take over from the failing ventricles of patients with heart failure, and its inventor Dr Timms was inspired by the many hours he spent alongside his father, a plumber, tinkering with water pumps.
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney’s Dr Paul Jansz said he and the team were “enormously proud” to have performed the country’s first procedure.
“We’ve worked towards this moment for years,” he said.
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney cardiologist Professor Chris Hayward, who also cared for the patient, said the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart ushered “in a whole new ball game for heart transplants”.
“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,” he said.
Monash University’s Vice Chancellor and President Professor Sharon Pickering said it was “a revolutionary milestone in Australian medical history”.
“This [is] … a triumph of science and a source of hope for patients and families,” she said.
Originally published as Artificial heart implant saves Aussie in historic breakthrough
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