Patient Story

Meet: Henno Thrun

Age: 58 (at implant)
Diagnosis: Dilated cardiomyopathy
Implant date: May 18, 2006
Transplant date: May 18, 2007
Time on the Total: 365 days
Residence: Ennepetal, Germany
Hospital: Heart & Diabetes Center NRW
Surgeon(s): Dr. Latif Arusoglu

An email from Henno Thrun to SynCardia:

From: Henno Thrun
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
To: SynCardia
Subject: Grüsse aus Germany

The SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart helped me weather the time in between the total failure of my own heart and my heart transplantation in a dignified, mobile and relatively independent way.

Without the Total Artificial Heart, I would be dead for almost two years! The pump supplied my body very well in my time without a heart. I was able to be physically active and relatively independent.

With the Total Artificial Heart, I was physically fit, due to which – in my opinion – I was able to undergo the heart transplantation surgery after 51 weeks on the device without significant problems. I was able to leave the heart center clinic five weeks after my transplantation.

After my transplant, when the weather was nice, I would leave the car in the garage where it is parked and walk the three kilometers to the pharmacy and then walk back.

In October 2007, we went on vacation: camping in the Winnebago. In Munster, Germany, I did my first bicycle tour since the transplantation – 40 km!

Our planner is always nicely booked full. If there is no work to be done either in the house or on the house then there are visits to our kids or friends on the agenda.

If I had to list all the things that I have been able to do since the Total Artificial Heart, it would be a book! That is why I will put it this way…

Physically I am doing better than I have in years;
I find fun and enjoyment in my life.

And all this largely thanks to a machine:
the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart!

Liebe Grüsse,
Henno Thrun

An email update from Henno’s wife, Maggie:

From: Maggie Thrun
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2008
To: SynCardia
Subject: From Maggie

This year, Henno and I visited the Christmas market in Dortmund together with our daughter Alexandra and our grandson Fyn to find proper gifts. The Christmas tree was 45 meters tall and more beautiful than 3 years ago when we last visited the market. Luckily, it was not the last time ever. Thanks to the Total Artificial Heart we can now visit many other Christmas markets and enjoy our life together. We are very grateful.

In September, we celebrated Henno’s 60th birthday by throwing a party with all of our family and friends in a rustic restaurant in Wuppertal. Henno takes any opportunity he can to make me and others laugh with his special manner.

We wish everyone a beautiful Christmas and a good, healthy and successful new year!

Viele Grüsse,
Maggie Thrun