| Tucson,
Ariz - June 13, 2007 – Bartley Griffith,
M.D., and his cardiac transplant team from the University
of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) will complete phase
one, of the four-part CardioWest TAH-t Certification
Program on June 14 and 15. The training will be presented
by Dr. Jack Copeland and other professionals at University
Medical Center, in Tucson.
Copeland made history in August
1985, when he became the first surgeon to use the artificial
heart as a bridge to transplant (BTT). Michael Drummond
was implanted with this heart on August 29 and successfully
transplanted on September 7. Less than two months later,
Dr. Griffith performed the second successful BTT using
this device. Griffith’s patient, Tom Gaidosh,
lived for 11 years with his transplanted heart while
Drummond lived five years.
The use of the artificial heart
as a bridge to transplant marked a medical milestone
because the device was designed and then used as a permanent
artificial heart from 1982 to 1985. The BTT was necessary
because it was feared that both patients were unlikely
to survive until a donor heart could be found. Since
1985, the sole use of the artificial heart has been
as a BTT. Over 650 patients’ lives have been prolonged
on this device, accounting for over 100 patient years
of life.
“We’re excited about
using the modern version of this heart. The CardioWest
is the only FDA-approved temporary Total Artificial
Heart in the world,” Griffith said. “Thanks
to the work of Dr. Copeland and his team at University
Medical Center, surgery procedures, anticoagulation
and patient care protocols have all improved dramatically.”
TAH-t Doubles Odds of Living
Another Year - Heart transplant eligible patients, who
are near death from end stage biventricular heart failure,
increase their odds of living another year from 31 percent
to 70 percent, when they are bridged to transplant with
the CardioWest TAH-t, based on a comparison with a set
of historical control patients who were matched to the
patients receiving the artificial heart (NEJM 2004;
351: 859-867).
Griffith, Chief of Cardiac Surgery
and Cardiothoracic Transplantation at UMMC, has directed
more than 1,200 heart transplants and 600 lung transplants.
Some of the world’s finest
hospitals and cardiac surgical teams have become TAH-t
certified centers. Upon successful completion of certification,
UMMC will become the 10th institution in the United
States and the 21st in the world to use the CardioWest
TAH-t as a bridge to transplant.
# # #
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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