An Australian man has made medical history by becoming the first person in the world to survive more than 100 days and walk out of a hospital with a total artificial heart implant. Doctors announced on Wednesday that the man has become the first person to survive with a total artificial heart implant before receiving a donor transplant after his severe heart failure.
The miraculous century!
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 Australian 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.
The surgery was described as an "unmitigated clinical success" after the patient survived for more than 100 days with the BiVACOR device before being transplanted with a donor heart in early March.
Surgeon Paul Jansz, who led the procedure, called it a historic moment for Australian medicine, saying, "We’ve worked towards this for years, and we’re enormously proud to be the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure.”
The procedure was part of Australia’s Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, led by Monash University, which aims to develop new devices for advanced heart failure treatment, and the pioneering procedure was conducted by cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Paul Jansz at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.
According to Timms, the patient who received the device spent over 100 days with it in place. He couldn’t feel it inside his chest and was able to go about his daily life—walking down the street and even shopping—before receiving a donor heart. Now, he is recovering well.
Timms said at a media conference on Wednesday, “He was asking, you know, maybe we can go for a pint sometime … he was just in great spirits. If this works well, then this is going to continue to be implanted in more patients. And that was part of his reasoning to say yes to this kind of technology.”
How does the artificial heart work?
The total artificial heart (TAH), 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.
As per a CNN report, BiVACOR, developed by the US-Australian company, is the artificial heart that has a single moving part, a levitated rotor that’s held in place by magnets, which ensures a smooth and continuous blood flow. Made from titanium, the artificial heart is constructed without any valves or mechanical bearings that help it to last longer and withstand more wear and tear than previous devices. It works by replacing both the left and right ventricles, the two chambers of the heart responsible for pumping blood throughout the body.
According to ABC News, the device is small enough to fit inside a 12-year-old and weighs about 650 grams. It is powered by an external rechargeable battery that connects to the heart via a wire in the patient’s chest. It lasts for about four hours and then alerts the patient that a new battery is required.
The device has already been tested as part of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Early Feasibility Study and is showing promising results.
Trial and error!
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, quoting, "Within the next decade, artificial hearts could become the alternative for those who cannot wait for a donor heart."
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.
Professor David Colquhoun from the University of Queensland also welcomed its success as "a great technological step forward," but said it has a limited life compared to donor hearts.
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