Press Release:

TUCSON, Ariz. – Oct. 16, 2006 – Senior surgeon, Prof. Dr. Sabine Daebritz and her heart transplant team from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Grosshadern Hospital in Munich, Germany, began the first training of a four-phase certification process to implant and support the CardioWest™ TAH-t. The first training concludes on Tuesday, October 17th at the Charité Hospital in Berlin. The remaining three phases will be conducted at their hospital in Munich.

Dr. Daebritz studied medicine at the University of Cologne. Her specialties include pediatric and adult heart transplantation. She has practiced at University Hospital of Aachen and Harvard Medical School, and has been practicing at the University Hospital Grosshadern since June 1999.

With 28 cardiac surgeons and physicians, the University Hospital Grosshadern Department of Cardiac Surgery performs over 1,600 open heart procedures annually. This certification training prepares their team to implant the CardioWest™ TAH-t, the only FDA and CE approved temporary artificial heart in the world.

By year-end, there will be 11 certified centers in Europe and 10 in the U.S. While the U.S. accounts for a majority of the world’s heart transplants, there has been significant growth in the number of TAH-t centers in Europe. “The availability of the TAH-t portable driver is the reason,” explained Rodger Ford President and CEO of SynCardia Systems, Inc., makers of the artificial heart.

The TAH-t portable driver received the CE Mark for use in Europe on July 19, 2006. The driver is about the size of an attaché case and weighs only 20 pounds. “The portable driver gives patients more freedom to live life like people with normal human hearts. Recovery at home eliminates hospitalization costs for this part of their care,” explains Dr. Marvin J. Slepian, Chairman of SynCardia.

The CardioWest™ TAH-t is a modern version of the Jarvik-7 Artificial Heart that was first implanted in Barney Clark in 1982. In the 1990s the device and technology were moved to University Medical Center in Tucson, AZ and subsequently renamed the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart. SynCardia 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 SynCardia Systems, Inc.

SynCardia Systems, Inc. is the Tucson-based manufacturer of the world’s only FDA, Health Canada and CE approved Total Artificial Heart: the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. There have been more than 850 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, accounting for more than 190 patient years of life on the device. 

Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, the Total Artificial Heart is currently approved as a bridge to human heart transplant for people dying from end-stage biventricular failure. The Total Artificial Heart is the only device that provides immediate, safe blood flow of up to 9.5 L/min through both ventricles.

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Media Contact:
Don Isaacs
Vice President of Communications
SynCardia Systems, Inc.
Cell: (520) 955-0660