Press Releases

Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center Begins
Certification Training for World’s Only Approved Total Artificial Heart

July 13, 2010

On July 8 & 9, the 13-member surgical team from the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston, led by Dr. Matthias Loebe, Surgical Director of the Heart & Lung Transplant Program, completed the first phase of certification training to implant the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart... read more

Michael Garippa Joins SynCardia as President

July 8, 2010

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, announced today that Michael Garippa, the CEO and President of TandemHeart for the last 8 years, has left the company to become SynCardia’s new president. Rodger Ford will continue as SynCardia’s CEO, concentrating on business development, while Mr. Garippa focuses on sales, clinical support, training and marketing... read more

World Renowned Total Artificial Heart Pioneer Dr. Jack Copeland
Joins Faculty at UC San Diego

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... read more

World’s 1st Total Artificial Heart Patients Discharged Home Using SynCardia’s Freedom™ Portable Driver

June 22, 2010

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, announced today that the world’s first three Total Artificial Heart patients have been discharged from SynCardia Certified Centers using the new Freedom™ portable driver. Weighing 13.5 lbs, the Freedom driver is the world’s first wearable portable driver designed to power SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital.... read more

SynCardia Named Among Top 50 Companies to Watch 
by Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry Magazine

June 17, 2010

Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI) magazine has selected SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, as one of 50 Companies to Watch for 2010... read more

1st SynCardia Total Artificial Heart Patient in U.S. History
Discharged with Freedom™ Portable Driver

May 27, 2010

On May 3, a Phoenix-area SynCardia Certified Center became the first hospital in U.S. history to discharge a patient implanted with the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart to wait at home for a matching donor heart. This hospital is participating in an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study of the Freedom™ driver, the first ever U.S. portable driver designed to power SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital... read more

Rapid Onset of Acquired von Willebrand Syndrome Observed with
Ventricular Assist Devices, Not SynCardia Total Artificial Heart

May 20, 2010

The findings of a 12 patient study recently published in Thrombosis and Haemostasis by University Medical Center Freiburg documented that patients implanted with a ventricular assist device (VAD) experienced a rapid onset of acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS), while patients implanted with the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart did not. The lead author of the study was Dr. Claudia Heilmann, Head of the Research Department for the Department of Heart and Vascular Surgery at University Medical Center Freiburg... read more

CHRU Tours Performs 1st Implant of SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

April 14, 2010

On April 1, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire et Régional de Tours (CHRU Tours) in France, led by Prof. Michel R. Aupart, performed its first implant of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart into a 44-year-old male with ischemic heart disease who had suffered a heart attack that caused both sides of his heart to fail... read more

SynCardia Granted FDA Conditional Approval
to Conduct IDE Clinical Study for Freedom™ Driver System

Mar. 29, 2010

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, today announced it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study of the Freedom™ driver system, the first-ever U.S. portable driver designed to power SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart... read more

1st Hospital in Greece Begins Certification Training
to Implant SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

Mar. 9, 2010

On March 4 & 5, the surgical team from the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, led by Dr. Petros Sfirakis, Director of the Transplantation Department & Mechanical Support Unit and Dr. Louis Louca, Surgeon/VAD Coordinator, completed the first phase of certification training to implant the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart... read more

Freedom™ Driver System Receives CE Mark
to Power SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart in Europe

Mar. 4, 2010

On March 4, SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, announced that its new Freedom™ driver system has received the CE Mark to power the Total Artificial Heart in Europe... read more

Dr. Marvin Slepian Gives Keynote Speech
on SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart
at Medical Devices Summit 2010

Mar. 2, 2010

On March 2, Dr. Marvin Slepian, world-renowned interventional cardiologist and co-founder and chairman of SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, was the keynote speaker at the Medical Devices Summit 2010 held in Boston... read more

Belgian Hospital 50th Transplant Center to Begin Certification Training
to Implant SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

Feb. 23, 2010

On Feb. 25 & 26, the surgical team from Onze Lieve Vrouw (OLV) Hospital Aalst, led by surgeons Ivo Deblier, MD, and Karl Dossche, PhD, and accompanied by anesthesiologist Koen De Decker, MD, will become the first hospital in Belgium and the 50th hospital in the world to complete the first phase of certification training to implant the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart... read more

La Pitié Hospital Performs its 200th Implant
of the World’s Only Approved Total Artificial Heart

Feb. 18, 2010

On Feb. 18, SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, announced that Groupe hospitalier de la Pitié-Salpétrière (La Pitié) in Paris has performed 200 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, more than any other hospital in the world... read more

Total Artificial Heart Recipient Celebrates 10 Years of Life with Donor Heart

Feb. 16, 2010

On Feb. 22, Bill Wohl, a former recipient of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, will celebrate 10 years of enjoying life to the fullest with the donor heart he received at University Medical Center on Feb. 22, 2000... read more

Leading Expert in Hemodynamics
Aims to Use New Emulator Technology
to Eliminate Blood Clotting in Cardiovascular Devices

Feb. 9, 2010

On Jan. 22, Danny Bluestein, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, in collaboration with Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the University of Arizona, submitted a Phase II Quantum Grant proposal to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)... read more

3 New Centers Begin Certification Training
to Implant SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

Feb. 3, 2010

On Feb. 1 and 2, surgical teams from Turkiye Yuksek Ihtisas Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, Yeditepe University Hospital in Istanbul and University Hospital of Bordeaux in France, completed the first phase of certification training in Paris to implant the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart... read more

German Man Bridged-to-Transplant After 615 Days of Life
with SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

Jan. 26, 2010

Bobby Dhawan, 51, is the owner of a successful taxi service in Germany. Normally, he does not allow bumper stickers to be placed on his cabs, but recently, he made a special exception for a sticker which reads, “Don’t take your organs to heaven - heaven knows we need them here!”... read more

Successful Artificial Heart Pursued by Many, Achieved by One

Jan. 19, 2010

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, has announced the launch of its new website to educate visitors that the artificial heart isn’t science fiction: it’s real, it works and it’s saving lives... read more