‘Unmitigated success’: Australian medicine celebrates major breakthrough

Australian surgeons have completed one of the world’s first life-changing surgeries that doctors say is a “revolutionary milestone”.

Doctors hope the artificial heart implant may become an alternative for those unable to wait for a donor heart transplant. Picture: Supplied

Australian medicine has made a major breakthrough after doctors completed the country’s first artificial heart implant that surgeons have labelled an “unmitigated clinical success”.

The historic implant, led by St Vincent’s cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Paul Jansz, took six hours to complete at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney on November 22, 2024.

The patient, a man in his 40s who did not wish to be identified, was experiencing severe heart failure and volunteered to be the first Australian recipient of a BiVACOR total artificial heart implant.

Following the procedure, the man spent a few weeks in intensive care and was observed by clinicians, led by St Vincent’s heart failure and transplant cardiologist Chris Hayward, before he was discharged from St Vincent’s in early February this year.

BiVACOR total artificial heart inventor Daniel Timms said it was ‘extremely rewarding’ to see the device’s progress in Australia. Picture: Supplied

The implant is designed to act as a bridge to keep a person alive while they wait for a donor heart transplant to become available, though the long-time goal is for the implant recipients to be able to live with the device without needing a heart transplant.

The artificial heart patient received his donor’s heart transplant in early March and is recovering well.

It marks the longest time an artificial heart transplant patient has gone between receiving the implant and their donor transplant.

Professor Hayward said the technological advancements with the artificial heart implant would transform the treatment for heart failure and reduce wait times for transplants.

“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.”

This is not the world’s first artificial heart implant, which took place on July 9, 2024 in Texas in the US

Since the initial operation, four further implants have been completed in the US.

The Australian implant marks the first operation to be completed outside the US and is the sixth successful implant in the world.

The device is highly durable. Picture: Supplied

BiVACOR founder, chief technical officer and inventor of the world’s first durable total artificial heart, Daniels Timms, said it was “extremely rewarding” to see the device progressing in Australia.

“Being able to bring Australia along this journey and be part of the first clinical trials is immensely important to me and something that I set out to do from the very beginning,” the Queensland-born doctor said.

“The entire BiVACOR team is deeply grateful to the patient and his family for placing their trust in our total artificial heart. Their bravery will pave the way for countless more patients to receive this lifesaving technology.”

Surgeons from St Vincent’s Sydney thanked the patient for his bravery. Picture: Supplied

The medical breakthrough is thanks to the Artificial Heart Frontiers Program (AFHP), a research and development program led by Monash University, with research from University of NSW, The University of Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institution as well as clinical collaborators Alfred Health and St Vincent’s Sydney.

The program, alongside industry partner BiVACOR, is researching and developing three devices to treat the most common forms of heart failure.

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death in Australia, accounting for almost one in 50 deaths, according to the Red Heart Foundation.

“Heart failure kills almost 5000 Australians every year,” Dr Jansz said.

“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.”

Doctors hope the artificial heart implant may become an alternative for those unable to wait for a donor heart transplant. Picture: Supplied.

The procedure is one of a series planned in Australia as part of the Monash University-led program that received a $50m grant from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund.

Monash University vice chancellor and president Sharon Pickering said the program was a “shining example” of what the nation could achieve when universities, government and industries unite, adding the procedure was a “revolutionary milestone in Australian medical history” and a “source of hope for patients and families”.

“In my own family and for so many others, this is a poignant reminder of the critical importance of medical research – made possible by the great relationships between universities, hospitals and industry – to improving and saving the lives of millions of Australians,” she said.

Over the next three years, AHFP will “accelerate” its research and development of the devices that can “deliver substantial global health and economic benefits through urgently needed solutions for advanced forms of heart failure, for which there are limited or no available treatments”.

Originally published as ‘Unmitigated success’: Australian medicine celebrates major breakthrough