Tucson, Ariz.-April 18, 2006 - On Thursday
and Friday, April 20 and 21, cardiovascular surgeon Benjamin Sun, M.D. of Ohio
State University Ross Heart Hospital, and the 13 members of his transplant team
will be at University Medical Center (UMC), in Tucson, to complete Phase I of
the CardioWest™ TAH‑t certification training. On that following Monday
and Tuesday, Dr. Michael A. Acker, chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery
at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and 7 members of his surgical
team will also complete Phase I training.
According to the "U.S. News and World Report 2005 Best
Heart Hospitals" list, The University of Pennsylvania Health System is ranked
20th best hospital for heart care and Ohio State University Ross Heart Hospital,
is ranked 39th.
The TAH‑t is the only FDA, Health Canada and CE
approved Artificial Heart in the world. The Artificial Heart is a bridge to transplant
for patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure who are waiting for a
donor human heart.
End-stage biventricular failure is a condition in which
a weakened heart slowly loses its ability to pump blood through the body efficiently.
The superior blood pumping ability of the TAH‑t, up to 9.5 liters per minute,
helps to rejuvenate vital organs that have atrophied because of a failing heart.
A New England Journal of Medicine paper published in
Aug. 2004, states that, in the pivotal clinical study of the TAH‑t, the
one year survival rate for patients receiving the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial
Heart was 70 percent versus 31 percent for control patients who did not receive
the device.
Phases two and three of the CardioWest TAH‑t training
program are conducted at the hospital being certified. The second phase is devoted
to ensuring that the hospital and its transplant team are "implant ready".
The third phase involves proctored surgical training
by Dr. Copeland or another TAH‑t veteran surgeon. The surgeon travels to
the hospital being certified to monitor the first TAH‑t implant. All TAH‑t
certified hospitals have years, and often decades, of experience in human heart
transplantation.
The TAH‑t is a modern version of the Jarvik-7 Artificial
Heart that was implanted in Barney Clark in 1982. In the 1990s the device and
technology moved to University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson and was subsequently
renamed the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart. Budget cutbacks
at UMC came close to stopping the study of this technology. To save the TAH‑t,
SynCardia Systems, Inc. was formed in 2001 by Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., Richard
G. Smith, MSEE, CCE, and surgeon Jack Copeland, M.D. All three men, along with
other medical professionals, are instructors for the TAH‑t certification
training program.
On January 20, 2006, during its annual share holders
meeting, SynCardia projected that TAH‑t certified implant centers will increase
from 9 to 28 hospitals world wide this year. According to SynCardia's President
and CEO, Rodger Ford, "This growth will convert the company from a scientific
venture into a profitable life-saving business."
# # #
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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