Press Releases

CardioWest™ Artificial Heart Patient Loses 430 lbs

Nov. 20, 2008

On Oct. 22, CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart patient Mr. Potiron shed 430 lbs when he was switched to the 20-lb CE approved portable driver after nearly a year of support on the 450-lb hospital driver “Big Blue” at University Hospital of Nantes... read more

Sweden Implants First CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart

Oct. 23, 2008

On Oct. 15, Dr. Lars Wiklund, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, led his surgical team in performing Sweden’s first implant of the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart into a 31-year-old male patient. Dr. Ulf Kjellman, head of the ventricular assist device (VAD) program, performed the implant... read more

6 European Centers To Train Exclusively on SynCardia Companion
Driver System

Oct. 15, 2008

On Oct. 23-30, heart transplant teams from six new European hospitals will train exclusively on the SynCardia Companion Driver System while completing the first of four phases of certification training to implant the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart... read more

“Put Down the BBQ Ribs, We’ve Found You a Donor Heart,”
Nurse Tells Patient

Oct. 8, 2008

After a six-year battle with heart disease that included numerous medications, trips to the emergency room and surgery to implant a pacemaker, 40-year-old Jim Fijalkovich found himself in the Intensive Care Unit at an Ohio hospital... read more

Rome Hospital Trains to Become Third Italian Center
Certified to Implant CardioWest Artificial Heart

Sept. 24, 2008

On Sept. 8 and 9, Prof. Francesco Musumeci, Director of the Cardiovascular Department, cardiothoracic surgeon Antonino Loforte, M.D., and the cardiac surgery team from Azienda Ospedaliera San Camillo Forlanini completed the first phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) in Berlin, Germany... read more

CardioWest Artificial Heart Approved For Highest Reimbursement
in CMS History

Aug. 7, 2008

On July 31, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final decision to reimburse the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) through the highest paying Diagnostic Related Group codes, MS-DRG 001 and 002... read more

Austria’s First CardioWest Artificial Heart
Implanted at University Hospital Innsbruck

July 31, 2008

On July 10, Prof. Dr. Gunther Laufer, chief of heart surgery at University Hospital Innsbruck, led his surgical team in performing Austria’s first implant of the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart into a 56-year-old male patient... read more

Australia’s Largest Transplant Hospital To Begin Certification Training
To Become Asia-Pacific Regional Training Center
for CardioWest Artificial Heart

July 24, 2008

On July 28 and 29, Director of Cardiopulmonary Transplant and Cardiothoracic Unit Dr. Philip Spratt, Cardiothoracic and Transplant surgeon Dr. Paul Jansz and the cardiac transplant team from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, will travel to Paris to begin the first phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t)... read more

Innovator of European Portable Driver for Artificial Heart
Joins Penn State Hershey Medical Center
as Medical Director of Mechanical Circulatory Support

July 17, 2008

On July 10, the Penn State Hershey Heart and Vascular Institute’s Mechanical Circulatory Support Team performed its first 2008 implant of the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart on a 57-year-old male patient... read more

2008 SynCardia Annual Shareholders Meeting Projects Use
of CardioWest™ Artificial Heart To Quadruple
Following SynCardia’s Achievement of 2008 Benchmarks

May 28, 2008

On May 28, SynCardia Systems, Inc. will be holding its annual shareholders meeting at the Westin La Paloma Resort. SynCardia’s senior management team will be detailing three strategic benchmarks the company intends to surpass in 2008, which were recently released in its 2007 Annual Report... read more

Discharge Driver Brings Sharp and Montreal Heart Institute
Back to the CardioWest™ Artificial Heart

May 22, 2008

On May 1 and 2, Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego and Montreal Heart Institute in Quebec, Canada, completed the first phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) at University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona... read more

Final Medicare Decision Provides Maximum Reimbursement to Hospitals
for CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart

May 6, 2008

On May 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final National Coverage Decision (NCD) to reimburse the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) as part of FDA studies that meet CMS specifications... read more

Mayo Clinic Arizona and VCU Medical Center Honored for Bridging 100%
of CardioWest Artificial Heart Patients to Transplant in 2007

April 23, 2008

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t), has honored Mayo Clinic Arizona and Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center as CardioWest 100% Centers for 2007... read more

Vienna Ventricular Assist Device Leader Begins Certification Training
For CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart

April 16, 2008

On April 14 and 15, Dr. Georg Wieselthaler, Clinical Director of Mechanical Circulatory Support, and his team from Vienna General Hospital at the University of Vienna completed the first phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) in Tucson... read more

World’s First 4-lb Discharge Driver For Powering
CardioWest™ Artificial Heart Unveiled at ISHLT in Boston

April 9, 2008

On April 9-12, SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t), is unveiling the prototype of its new four-pound Companion II Driver, the next generation in its Companion Driver System series, at the 28th annual meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT)... read more

Rush University Medical Center Begins Certification Training
For CardioWest™ Artificial Heart

March 10, 2008

On March 10 and 11, Rush University Medical Center’s mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant team led by Chair of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, Robert S.D. Higgins, M.D. and Cardiologist Jose C. Mendez, M.D., will participate in the first phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t)... read more

SynCardia Introduces First in Series of Patient Education Videos

March 6, 2008

As part of a new patient education series that SynCardia Systems, Inc. will launch this summer on its web site, the company has produced a eleven-minute video.... read more

Female Artificial Heart Patient, 28, Boxes Her Way to Health

Feb. 14, 2008

At age 20, Vanessa Cirillo suffered a heart attack caused by a virus. She recovered and lived a healthy life until June 2007, when her heart condition became critical... read more

Preliminary Decision by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Favors Reimbursement For CardioWest™ Artificial Heart

Feb. 4, 2008

On February 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that after completing a review of its 1986 national non-coverage policy for artificial hearts, its preliminary decision is to provide reimbursement for patients who receive the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) as part of FDA studies that meet CMS specifications... read more

Artificial Heart Returns to Utah

Jan. 3, 2008

On Jan. 3, Intermountain Medical Center (formerly LDS hospital) will complete the second phase of certification training for the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t), bringing the artificial heart one step closer to returning to Utah... read more