First Female Lead Surgeon to be Certified to Implant the CardioWest™
temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH‑t) Trains at the Charité Hospital
in Berlin, Germany
Tucson, Ariz.-October 16, 2006
- Senior surgeon, Prof. Dr. Sabine Daebritz and her heart transplant team from
the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Grosshadern Hospital in Munich, Germany, began
the first training of a four-phase certification process to implant and support
the CardioWest™ TAH‑t. The first training concludes on Tuesday, October
17th at the Charité Hospital in Berlin. The remaining three phases will
be conducted at their hospital in Munich.
Dr. Daebritz studied medicine at the University of Cologne.
Her specialties include pediatric and adult heart transplantation. She has practiced
at University Hospital of Aachen and Harvard Medical School, and has been practicing
at the University Hospital Grosshadern since June 1999.
With 28 cardiac surgeons
and physicians, the University Hospital Grosshadern Department of Cardiac Surgery
performs over 1,600 open heart procedures annually. This certification
training prepares their team to implant the CardioWest™ TAH‑t, the
only FDA and CE approved temporary artificial heart in the world.
By year-end, there will be 11 certified centers in Europe
and 10 in the U.S. While the U.S. accounts for a majority of the world’s
heart transplants, there has been significant growth in the number of TAH‑t
centers in Europe. "The availability of the TAH‑t portable driver is
the reason," explained Rodger Ford President and CEO of SynCardia Systems,
Inc., makers of the artificial heart.
The TAH‑t portable driver received the CE Mark
for use in Europe on July 19, 2006. The driver is about the size of an attaché
case and weighs only 20 pounds. "The portable driver gives patients more
freedom to live life like people with normal human hearts. Recovery at home eliminates
hospitalization costs for this part of their care," explains Dr. Marvin J.
Slepian, Chairman of SynCardia.
The CardioWest™ TAH‑t is a modern version
of the Jarvik-7 Artificial Heart that was first implanted in Barney Clark in 1982.
In the 1990s the device and technology were moved to University Medical Center
in Tucson, AZ and subsequently renamed the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial
Heart. SynCardia was formed in 2001 by Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., Richard G. Smith,
MSEE, CCE, and surgeon Jack Copeland, M.D.
# # #
Media contact:
SynCardia Director of Communications
Donald Isaacs
Cell: 520-955-0660
About the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial
Heart
The CardioWest™ TAH‑t is a pneumatic, biventricular, implantable bridge-to-transplant
system for full cardiac replacement, taking the place of the failing heart in
patients at imminent risk of death. The device offers full circulatory support,
the shortest blood path and exposure to artificial surfaces, and the highest level
of cardiac output when compared with other artificial heart systems previously
tested. With the CardioWest™ TAH‑t, patients become better candidates
for eventual transplantation and have post-transplant survival rates equal to
that of non-device cardiac recipients.
About SynCardia Systems
Founded in 2001, SynCardia Systems is the developer of biomechanical cardiac replacement
and assist devices. Its CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH‑t)
is designed for severely ill patients with end-stage congestive heart failure.
The device serves as an in-hospital bridge-to-transplantation for patients at
imminent risk of death. SynCardia Systems is based in Tucson, Arizona and is on
the Web at http://www.syncardia.com.
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