Press Release:

TUCSON, Ariz. – June 22, 2006 – On Thursday and Friday, June 29 and 30th senior cardiac surgeon, Dr. Christof Schmid, and members of his cardiac transplant team from the University of Muenster (Universitatsklinikums Munster) in Muenster, Germany will be in Tucson for training on the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t). The first of a three-part certification program will be conducted at the University Medical Center (UMC) Sarver Heart Center. Instructors will include Marvin Slepian, M.D., Richard Smith MSEE, CCE, and noted heart surgeon Jack Copeland, M.D.

University of Muenster will be the eighth European center and the 15th center world-wide to be certified to implant the CardioWest TAH-t.

With more than 7,500 highly qualified employees and a capacity of over 1,500 beds, the University of Muenster is one of the largest hospitals for specialized medical care in northern Germany. Since 1993, Dr. Schmid has had vast experience with a variety of cardiac assist devices. In June 2003, he was appointed head of the Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) and transplant program.

The CardioWest TAH-t is the only FDA and CE approved artificial heart in the world. The artificial heart is used as a bridge to transplant for transplant eligible patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure who are waiting for a donor human heart.

End-stage biventricular failure is a condition in which a weakened heart loses its ability to pump blood through the body. The superior blood pumping ability of the TAH-t, up to 9.5 liters per minute, helps to rejuvenate vital organs that have atrophied because of a failing heart.

“We know that it [TAH-t] salvages a large number of patients who are really spiraling downward so rapidly that there’s no other device that can bring them back and this device [the TAH-t] does it,” said Dr. Jack Copeland.

A New England Journal of Medicine paper published in Aug. 2004, states that, in the pivotal clinical study of the TAH-t, the one year survival rate for patients receiving the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart was 70 percent versus 31 percent for control patients who did not receive the device.

The TAH-t is a modern version of the Jarvik-7 Artificial Heart that was implanted in Barney Clark in 1982. In the 1990s the device and technology moved to University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson and was subsequently renamed the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart. SynCardia Systems, Inc. was formed in 2001 by Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., Richard G. Smith, MSEE, CCE, and surgeon Jack Copeland, M.D.

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About the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart
SynCardia Systems, Inc. (Tucson, AZ) is the privately-held manufacturer of the world's first and only FDA, Health Canada and CE approved Total Artificial Heart. Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart is currently approved as a bridge to transplant for people dying from end-stage biventricular heart failure. There have been more than 950 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, accounting for more than 230 patient years of life.

Similar to a heart transplant, SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart replaces both failing heart ventricles and the four heart valves, eliminating the symptoms and source of end-stage biventricular failure. Unlike a donor heart, the Total Artificial Heart is immediately available at SynCardia Certified Centers and does not require expensive anti-rejection medication, which can cause subsequent complications. It is the only device that provides immediate, safe blood flow of up to 9.5 liters per minute through both ventricles. This high volume of safe blood flow helps speed the recovery of vital organs, helping make the patient a better transplant candidate.

SynCardia Ranked #20 Among World's 50 Most Innovative Companies
In March 2011, Fast Company magazine ranked SynCardia #20 in its annual list of the "World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" for "giving mobility to artificial heart recipients." Weighing 13.5 pounds, SynCardia's Freedom® portable driver is the world's first wearable driver designed to power the Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital. The Freedom driver is CE approved for use in Europe and undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.syncardia.com
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Media Contact:
Don Isaacs
Vice President of Communications
SynCardia Systems, Inc.
Cell: (520) 955-0660