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Tucson, Ariz.-June 22, 2006 - On Thursday
and Friday, June 29 and 30th senior cardiac surgeon, Dr. Christof Schmid, and
members of his cardiac transplant team from the University of Muenster (Universitatsklinikums
Munster) in Muenster, Germany will be in Tucson for training on the CardioWest
temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH‑t). The first of a three-part certification
program will be conducted at the University Medical Center (UMC) Sarver Heart
Center. Instructors will include Marvin Slepian, M.D., Richard Smith MSEE, CCE,
and noted heart surgeon Jack Copeland, M.D.
University of Muenster will be the eighth European center
and the 15th center world-wide to be certified to implant the CardioWest TAH‑t.
With more than 7,500 highly qualified employees and a
capacity of over 1,500 beds, the University of Muenster is one of the largest
hospitals for specialized medical care in northern Germany. Since 1993, Dr. Schmid
has had vast experience with a variety of cardiac assist devices. In June 2003,
he was appointed head of the Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) and transplant program.
The CardioWest TAH‑t is the only FDA and CE approved
artificial heart in the world. The artificial heart is used as a bridge to transplant
for transplant eligible 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 loses its ability to pump blood through the body. 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.
"We know that it [TAH‑t] salvages a large number of patients
who are really spiraling downward so rapidly that there's no other device that
can bring them back and this device [the TAH‑t] does it," said Dr. Jack Copeland.
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.
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. SynCardia Systems,
Inc. 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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