SynCardia Video Center: News
CBS – Los Angeles
Artificial Heart Implant Marks
A First For West Coast
Keck Hospital at USC
Nov. 10, 2011 - Wednesday marked a historic day in medical history with the first person on the West Coast going home from a hospital with a Total Artificial Heart. With her husband, Dale, by her side, Tammy Lumpkins walked out of Keck Hospital of USC with part of her heart on her back. The 46-year-old is the first on the West Coast to go home with a Total Artificial Heart implant. Two-thirds of her own heart was removed and replaced with a plastic one, hooked up to an air compressor that fits into a backpack.
NOTE: This news story inaccurately states that SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart can support a patient for as long as 6 years. To date, the longest a patient has been supported by the Total Artificial Heart is 1,374 days prior to transplant, which is 86 days shy of 4 years.
Video Length - 2:15
*The Freedom® portable driver is CE approved for use in Europe and undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S.
CAUTION – The Freedom driver is an investigational device, limited by United States law to investigational use.
SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.
