August 2, 2011
Mechanical hearts important, but not permanent,
treatment for heart failure
A 40-year-old
man suffering from heart failure has become the first person in the
UK to leave hospital after having a certain type of artificial
heart fitted.
Matthew Green had a Total Artificial
Heart fitted at Papworth Hospital in June during a six
hour operation. He had been critically ill suffering from
biventricular heart failure.
The Total Artificial Heart allows surgeons to
remove the patient’s failing heart and replace it with a mechanical
one that keeps the patient’s circulation going
until a donor heart can be found.
Our Medical Director, Professor Peter Weissberg, said: “For some
patients with severe heart failure transplantation is their only
hope of long term survival, but donor hearts are not always
available. Previous versions of the mechanical heart have
supported only the left side of the heart - the side that does most
of the work - but the Total Mechanical Heart replaces both sides
and so can be used for anyone with severe heart failure.
Mechanical hearts are not a permanent solution and donor hearts are scarce
“Patients with
mechanical hearts must remain permanently linked to a power supply
via tubes that pass through the skin, which is a potential source
of infection. With this artificial heart,
the power supply
is small enough to fit in a shoulder bag so patients can
walk around and go home.
“Mechanical hearts are not
a permanent solution and donor hearts are scarce
which is why the BHF has launched its Mending Broken Hearts Appeal
find a way of repairing a severely damaged heart. If successful,
many patients with severe heart failure may not need
transplantation or a mechanical heart in the future.”
Our Mending Broken Hearts
Appeal is a
major programme of regenerative
medicine research to find a way to
repair heart muscle damaged by a heart
attack.
This damage is currently incurable and can lead to heart
failure, where the heart doesn’t pump properly. This can leave
people breathless at even the most basic of everyday tasks, such as
climbing the stairs or cooking a meal. More than 750,000 people in the
UK now live with heart failure.