Press Release:
World Renowned Total Artificial Heart Pioneer Dr. Jack Copeland
Joins Faculty at UC San Diego
Acclaimed Heart Surgeon Made World’s Only Approved Total Artificial Heart a Reality
“I will miss my patients. They have been some of the sickest and bravest souls I have ever seen,” said Dr. Jack Copeland of his 33-year surgical career in Arizona.
TUCSON, Ariz. – June 29, 2010 – On July 1, Total Artificial Heart pioneer and world renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Jack Copeland, will join the faculty at the new $227 million Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla.
“If it weren’t for Dr. Copeland’s decades of work, the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart would not be the world’s only approved Total Artificial Heart today,” said Rodger Ford, CEO of SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the Total Artificial Heart. “Dr. Copeland’s tireless efforts helped make the Total Artificial Heart the world’s most successful bridge to transplant device. He has and will continue to play a vital role in training new SynCardia Certified Centers, proctoring their first implants and improving patient outcomes.”
Dr. Copeland made medical history in 1979 when he performed Arizona’s first heart transplant, and again in 1985, when he became the first surgeon to successfully use the Jarvik 7 artificial heart as a temporary bridge to transplant. The first five implants of this artificial heart had been for permanent use only.
1985: Announcing the 1st use of the Jarvik 7 as a bridge to transplant. L to R: Richard Smith, Dr. Mark Levinson, Dr. Robert Jarvik, patient Michael Drummond and Dr. Jack Copeland.
Dr. Copeland’s numerous contributions to the Total Artificial Heart include advancing surgical technique, patient care protocols and anticoagulation (blood management), and serving as the Principal Investigator of the 10-year pivotal clinical study of the Total Artificial Heart. This clinical study produced the highest bridge to transplant rate, 79%, of all approved mechanical circulatory support devices today, and resulted in FDA approval of the Total Artificial Heart in October 2004.
Dr. Copeland is a founder and past president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). Besides his pioneering work with the Total Artificial Heart, Dr. Copeland also performed Arizona's first heart-lung transplant in 1985 and the first U.S. implant of a pediatric ventricular assist device designed for newborns and small children.
Dr. Jack Copeland (right) with his patient Bill Wohl (center) who was bridged to transplant with the Total Artificial Heart in 2000 and cardiologist Dr. Marvin Slepian at the 2007 El Tour de Tucson cycling race.
“I came to Arizona because it was a welcoming environment in which I could try new things that would benefit patients,” said Dr. Copeland, who has performed more than 100 implants of the Total Artificial Heart. “I now have the same feeling about UCSD… but I will miss my patients. They have been some of the sickest and bravest souls I have ever seen.”
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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
SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.
