In the News
Life Without a Pulse: Heart Pump Aids Cardiac Patients
January 23, 2010
ABC World News You might never know by looking at him, but 78-year-old Richard Stowe has a mechanical pump inside his chest, doing most of the work of his weakened heart.
Heart pump developed in Houston approved by Houston
January 21, 2010
Top News The US Food and Drug Administration approved the usage of a heart pump this week
FDA Approves VAD Used at Barnes-Jewish for Destination Therapy
January 21, 2010
HealthCanal.com Physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital can expand use of a device targeted at helping heart failure patients survive long term, thanks to a decision today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
FDA Approves for Permanent Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure Assist Device Pioneered by Texas heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
January 21, 2010
Business Wire The federal Food and Drug Administration today approved a continuous-flow heart-assist device pioneered at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) for use as a permanent treatment for advanced heart failure.
HeartMate II LVAD as Permanent Option for Heart Failure
January 21, 2010
MedGadget The FDA has just issued clearance for Thoratec Corporation's HeartMate II LVAD (left ventricular assist device) to be used as a permanent therapy in patients with severe heart failure that are not candidates for organ replacement.
FDA Gives Approval to New Heart Device
January 21, 2010
MedPage Today The FDA has granted premarket approval to a second left ventricular assist system (HeartMate II).
FDA approved HeartMate II for destination therapy in patients with advanced-stage HF
January 21, 2010
Cardiology Today The FDA has granted approval of Thoratec's HeartMate II left ventricular assist device, allowing the use of the device for destination therapy.
Heart-Assist System Approved for Severe Heart Failure: Among people who aren't candidates for heart transplant
January 20, 2010
US News & World Report A device that helps the heart's left ventricle pump blood in people who have severe heart failure but who aren't candidates for heart transplant has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Implanted heart pump keeps teenager active
January 17, 2010
Wilton Villager (CT) It was the kind of complaint any mother of a 16-year-old has heard a hundred times: "Mom, I don't feel well."
"The Bionic Woman"
January 12, 2010
National Public Radio Leonor Childers is one of the few people in this country who have a new kind of heart pump - one that is permanently implanted, which she plugs into the wall each night.
79-year-old with heart assist device serves as inspiration to others
January 12, 2010
Penn Live (Patriot News) (PA) The decision to have a left ventricle assist device installed in his body was an easy one for Charles Shade.
Battery-powered pump is implanted in teenager with unexplained heart failure
January 12, 2010
Washington Post It was the kind of complaint any mother of a 16-year-old has heard a hundred times: "Mom, I don't feel well."
Giving a Heart a Hand
December 16, 2009
The Wall Street Journal Thousands of heart-failure patients die each year because they aren't able to get a transplanted organ. Now, many medical experts are touting the benefits of a new mechanical pump that gives a patient's own heart a new lease on life.
'Bionic man' awaits a beating heart
December 10, 2009
THE GAZETTE Most guys want expensive electronics for Christmas.
Advanced Heart Failure Treatment with Continuous-Flow Ventricular Assist Device
December 3, 2009
New England Journal of Medicine Patients with advanced heart failure have improved survival rates and quality of life when treated with implanted pulsatile-flow left ventricular assist devices as compared with medical therapy. New continuous-flow devices are smaller and may be more durable than the pulsatile-flow devices.
Life Saving Heart Surgery in Pocatello
December 3, 2009
Local News 8, Idaho A man in Pocatello is lucky to be alive after a middle of the night scare when he started having shortness of breath. After rushing to Portneuf Medical Center, he went immediately into surgery for blood clots.
Texas Children's Hospital Achieves Pediatric Cardiology "First Discharges Teen with Mechanical Heart Assist Device"
November 29, 2009
Medical Devices & Surgical Technology Week Texas Children's Hospital is the nation's first pediatric hospital to discharge a child while on an intracorporeal ventricular assist device (VAD), a feat previously accomplished only at adult institutions. The patient, 16-year-old Francisco "Frank" De Santiago, who was implanted with a mechanical heart pump called the HeartMate II on May 19, 2009, was discharged on Oct. 29, 2009.
'Bridge to a transplant': Rainier woman among first to use innovative heart pump
November 26, 2009
TDN.com Wendy Zieliski has a favorite photo on the wall of her Rainier home. In it, she and her husband and two of their grandchildren have beaming smiles, a snowy Mount Adams in the background. That photo has helped the 61-year-old woman get through more than a year with a failing heart.
Mark Slaughter, MD: the HeartMate 2 trial
November 22, 2009
CurrentMedicine.tv Dr. Slaughter, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Louisville, discusses the new HeartMate II destination therapy data presented at the AHA 2009 meeting.
AHA: Positive Findings Are Rare but Welcome in Heart Failure
November 18, 2009
MedPage Today Recent years have brought little good news in heart failure research, as a string of studies have reported null findings. But two studies discussed in this exclusive MedPage Today InFocus™ report buck that trend.
HMII: Continuous flow LVAD outperforms pulsatile flow
November 17, 2009
Cardiology Today In the HeartMate II Destination Therapy trial, the continuous flow HeartMate II left ventricular assist device did a better job at improving six-minute walk distance, survival and adverse events compared with the pulsatile flow HeartMate XVE left ventricular assist device.
AHA: New Trumps Old in Comparison of Heart Pumps
November 17, 2009
MedPage Today A newer-generation left ventricular assist device, HeartMate II, improved outcomes more as destination therapy for advanced heart failure than an older device, HeartMate XVE
Health Buzz: New Heart Pump Outperforms Old Model and Other Health News
November 17, 2009
US News & World Report A study comparing two versions of Thoratec Corp.'s heart pump showed that patients live longer if they receive the newer model, Reuters reports.
New Heart Pump Improves Survival By Factor Of Four
November 17, 2009
RedOrbit A new type of heart pump significantly improves survival in people with severe heart failure, according to a study presented Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference and published by the New England Journal of Medicine.
New heart-assist device significantly improves survival in heart failure patients
November 17, 2009
LA Times Mechanical pumps originally designed to supplement the pumping action of a failing heart and keep the patient alive until a transplant could be found have taken a major step toward becoming a permanent treatment, a development that could expand their use to tens of thousands of patients in the United States alone.
Heart of gold
October 25, 2009
Edmonton Sun Six months ago, Spruce Grove Saints forward Shane Lehman celebrated an Alberta Junior Hockey League regular season championship by hoisting the Dave Duchak Trophy... That night was the beginning of the end of a hockey career
Hospital hosts training for first responders
October 22, 2009
Red Bluff Daily News St. Elizabeth Community Hospital Emergency Department hosted a special heart pump training for all first responders in the county.
One inspiring story in the sea of runners
October 19, 2009
9 News - Colorado Sunday morning about 10,000 runners took to the streets for the 4th annual Denver Marathon.
Mechanical heart keeps Missouri man alive as he awaits heart transplant
September 29, 2009
Quincy Herald-Whig Michael Price's heart doesn't beat.
Man lives with mechanical heart
September 10, 2009
ConnectTriStates.com When a doctor listens to Mike Price's heart through a stethoscope, the doctor doesn't hear a heartbeat. He hears a whirring sound. That's because of this machine, the Heart Mate Two Left Ventricular Assist Device, or LVAD.
Device buys time for man
September 4, 2009
The Post and Courier Thomas Joyner no longer feels his heart whir when he puts his hand to his chest. He can feel it beat again. A revolutionary device embedded near his heart gave him time to live until a transplant last week.
First heart assist implant patient gets new heart
September 3, 2009
Live 5 News (WCSC) A first of its kind medical procedure in the state is successfully completed on a patient at the Medical University of South Carolina. Thomas Joyner, the first recipient of an implantable heart pump finally gets a new heart after a nearly three month wait.
AUB medical team successfully performs first 'artificial heart' implant in Lebanon
September 3, 2009
AME Info An AUB medical team successfully performed, at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, the first 'artificial heart' implant in Lebanon, thus saving the life of a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.
Change of Heart
July 27, 2009
Washington DC NBC For the almost 9,000 Americans waiting for a heart transplant, the chance of ever getting a new heart can be small. But now a new artificial heart is giving heart failure patients more time to live.
New device saving lives at MUSC
July 22, 2009
WCSC - Live 5 News - Charleston, SC Patrick Spotola doesn't mince words when he talks about the HeartMate 2.
New Heart Pump is Conveniently Purse-Sized
July 22, 2009
WNBC-TV Channel 4 (NY, NY) The Heartmate 2, FDA approved last year, is a new purse-sized heart pump. The device helps restore good blood flow to the patient's heart and other organs.
Beating the odds: Medical marvel allows a Stockton woman to outlive her failing heart
July 13, 2009
The Record (Stockton, CA) Death came knocking at Irene Armendarez's door in 2006. The Stockton woman's heart was failing fast, and there appeared to be little hope.
Revolutionary Heart Pump Saves Miami Woman's Life
July 9, 2009
CBS-4 (Miami) It wasn't that long ago that Orfelina Torres had a hard time taking a short walk and was prone to fainting spells. But now, thanks to a new device she carries around with her wherever she goes, the 58-year-old Torres has a new lease on life.
Woman with rare anemia gets Disney wish, again
June 9, 2009
Texas Cable News Jessica Kath has no pulse.
Mechanical hearts keep heart disease patients alive
June 7, 2009
KUSI-TV San Diego Heart disease patients who are very thankful to be alive, showed their appreciation today at Crown Point. Thankful for a mechanical device, implanted in their chest, that keeps their blood flowing. Mission Bay, filled with heart-felt gratitude from dozens of cardiovascular disease patients whose lives have been saved.
Life-saver for a life saver
June 4, 2009
The Post-Courier This time, it was a paramedic and volunteer firefighter who needed rescuing; and the Medical University of South Carolina hospital became the first in the state to implant a device intended to keep him alive and at home while he awaits a new heart.
Minneapolis Cop Needs Heart Transplant
May 27, 2009
My Fox Twin Cities After an unrelated surgery in April, Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Blake learned he has major problems with his heart, which doctors say won't last more than two years.
Columbus heart transplant patient leaves hospital after two months
May 24, 2009
Ledger-Enquirer After two months in an Atlanta hospital, the time had finally come for Dominique Ogletree to go home to Columbus. A telephone call changed his plans.
Artificial heart mum heads home to spend Mother’s Day with kids
May 10, 2009
Malaysia Star Tan Geek Koon is fitted with a “mechanical heart” and she has to lug around a 9kg portable battery if she wants to move about.
Toledo mom was heartbeat from missing today
May 10, 2009
Toledo Blade Kristy Kress had never been pregnant before, so when the expectant mother had trouble breathing late last summer, she didn't question those who said it was common.
Pump Gives New Hope To Heart Patients
May 8, 2009
CBS Early Show - (CBS) Three years ago, 27-year-old Salina Gonzales was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and was told she had just one month to live.
Local Community Helps in One Boy's Fight To Survive
April 30, 2009
WJLA.com Thanks to the support of his community, a Silver Spring boy is not only surviving but thriving after a potentially fatal virus attacked his heart.
Mother saved by heart pump invention
April 16, 2009
The Herald A young mother who was facing death has a new lease of life because she can now plug herself into the electric mains to keep her faulty heart beating.
Mesquite: Community shows lots of heart for one of its own
April 15, 2009
Star Community Newspapers - Jessica Kath’s dream of working at Disney World suddenly turned into a nightmare when she collapsed during a parade from congestive heart failure.
Healing A (Literally) Broken Heart
April 11, 2009
CBS Evening News - It's all thanks to a highly unusual medical procedure that holds promise for the thousands of people every year who need a heart transplant and can't get one, as CBS Evening News Saturday anchor Jeff Glor reports.
New device helps heart patients
April 10, 2009
KXAN-TV CH 36 (NBC) - A new program at Seton is helping patients with heart problems live longer.
Battery-powered heart pump keeps man going and going and going.
April 6, 2009
The Town Talk - It might not be an actual human heart, but it is a machine he wears to control the flow of blood from his heart to the rest of his body, wife Andrea Paul said.
HeartMate II Allows More People to be Eligible for Transplant
April 3, 2009
KHGI-TV (Kearney, NE) - Dewey Smith thought he was sick. When the 61-yearold
It's a new device that could mean a longer life for thousands of people with heart failure.
March 9, 2009
WQAD.com - Five million Americans suffer debilitating, even deadly heart failure.
'The highest rates of heart diseases are in India'
February 2, 2009
Rediff News - Mumbai, Maharashtra, India - Dr Arvind Koshal, is one of the two Indo-Canadian recipients of 2008's Order of Canada [Images], the country's highest civilian honor. Dr Koshal, director, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Edmonton, Alberta, said the award was in recognition of his "contributions to cardiac surgeries and for developing the leading cardiac care center in the country." The other awardee is dancer Lata Pada.
Challenges no problem for Bowie ‘Iron Man'
January 29, 2009
Business Gazette - When Bowie 16-year-old Miles Davis returned to classes at the Nora School in Silver Spring earlier this school year, other students didn't know how to treat him. He'd just had open-heart surgery to implant a left ventricular assist device, a mechanical pump to help his failing heart, and he wore a battery pack around his waist to keep it operating.
The Medical Minute: Modern heart failure therapies improving life
January 27, 2009
Penn State Live, PA - Heart failure is a common medical condition. In fact, it is the most common cause of hospitalization for people over the age of 65. The very name is frightening — heart failure sounds as though someone may die at any moment. Indeed, the risk of dying from it was high in the past. But medical and surgical advances over the past 20 years have changed the nature of heart failure treatment from simply trying to slow progression of the disease to one where we can actually improve the heart’s condition. Today, heart failure is a chronic disease that people can live with for many years while maintaining a good quality of life.
Keeping heart patients alive
January 10, 2009
WPTV - An estimated five million people across the nation are suffering from congestive heart failure, according to the American Heart Association. That figure is expected to double in the next 30 years. More than half a million new cases are diagnosed every year.
Lifewatch: Heartmate
January 9, 2009
WECT-TV6, NC - Five million Americans suffer from debilitating heart failure.
Continuous flow heart pumps are wave of the future: expert
January 3, 2009
Gulf Times, Qatar - CONTINUOUS flow heart pumps are going to be the ‘wave of the future’ for treating heart failure, a visiting expert told a cardiovascular symposium hosted yesterday by Hamad Medical Corporation.
Heart aid pumps joy into Christmas
December 23, 2008
Tulsa World - After spending 36 days in Integris Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City and 10 more in an apartment there, the 50-year-old Tulsan came home Friday with a battery-operated heart pump implanted in his chest.
Teen gets partial artificial heart
December 18, 2008
KTRK-TV CH 13 (ABC) Houston - Two children with a mechanical heart device met at TX Children's Hospital today.
Teen Lives 4 Months With No Heart, Leaves Hospital
November 19, 2008
ABC News - D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a “fake person” for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. “But I know that I really was here,” the 14-year-old said, “and I did live without a heart.”
Minn. man finds prolonged life with ‘Heartmate 2’
November 14, 2008
KAAL TV ABC - A cord attached to a battery pack is what one Minnesota man attributes to keeping him alive.
Why heart pumps could kill off the transplant
November 2, 2008
The Sunday Times - When the South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard carried out the first heart transplant in December 1967, the world held its breath. His patient, 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky, lived for only another 18 days. The drugs he needed to stop his body rejecting the new organ compromised his immune system to such an extent he couldn’t fight off other illnesses, and he died of pneumonia. But the precedent had been set: the most powerful and emotionally iconic of human organs could be taken from the body of a dead person to give the chance of an extended life to another. It was a transforming, era-defining moment that reinforced our faith in medical science and ensured Barnard’s place in history. But how successful would heart transplantation be in the long term?
Staying alive
October 28, 2008
UM News (University of Minnesota) - William Sowdon was constantly losing his breath and could only walk at a snail's pace. Laura Huber, at 28, had a rare case of postpartum cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle is inflamed and doesn't function well.
Saved - by an artificial heart the size of a thumb that plugged into the mains
October 13, 2008
Daily Mail, UK - Around 20,000 Britons suffer from dilated cardiomyopathy, which weakens their heart muscles, putting them at serious risk of heart failure. James Jackson, 22, a labourer from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, had an artificial heart implanted to keep him alive while his own heart recovered, as he tells Thea Jourdan.
For Bellingham dentist, a harrowing and miraculous journey to his new heart
September 22, 2008
Bellingham Herald - If not for the persistence of the woman who loved him, Jeff L. Frere's life may have ended suddenly and mysteriously at the young age of 46, at least until an autopsy showed the damage to his heart and arteries.
Thoratec Corp. — Mending Broken Hearts
September 10, 2008
RTT News - For patients suffering from advanced-stage heart failure and awaiting heart transplantation, the approval of Thoratec's HeartMate II by the FDA on April 21, represents a new hope, as drug therapies have not proven to be an effective solution. The device was approved in Europe as early as November 2005.
Take Heart From HeartMate 2
August 16, 2008
Business Week - There's a new device on the market that will help bridge the gap for those suffering from heart disease and on the lengthy list for a heart transplant.
Patient Who Needed Heart And Kidney Transplant Borrowed Time With Heart Assist Device
August 6, 2008
Medical News Today - Seven years after Joaquin Lucio's kidneys shut down, he had a heart attack and was taken to a Los Angeles area hospital where doctors performed an angioplasty to clear his coronary arteries. He also was suffering from idiopathic congestive heart failure - a condition in which the heart becomes weak and enlarged - and a special pacemaker was implanted to provide support.
Quest: Repairing more hearts with implanted pumps
July 21, 2008
KFMB-TV Channel 8 San Diego - When it comes to hearts, Taneal Wilson won the lottery. A small pump implanted to keep the 31-year-old alive long enough for a heart transplant somehow helped Wilson's ravaged heart completely recover instead.
Another UMC First For Mechanical Heart Devices
July 18, 2008
KOLD-TV, CBS - A Tucson man has become the first University Medical Center patient to get a relatively new mechanical heart assist device.
New Life Saving Heart Device
July 17, 2008
KATV - Little Rock, AR - The numbers are staggering. An estimated 5-million Americans are affected by congestive heart failure, with nearly 500,000 cases diagnosed each year. But an innovative device is pumping new life into heart patients. And a local hospital has been given the green light to offer this revolutionary procedure.
Hopkins: Week 3
July 10, 2008
ABC.com - Earl Ingemann is a live wire. A 19-year-old Bermudan, he is constantly eluding doctors and nurses who want him to stay put and behave like other patients on the heart transplant list. But Earl would rather prowl the hospital, go out for junk food, play video games and get his hair braided. However, he needs something more than a routine heart transplant and doctors are worried.
The CD&D Interview: Gary Burbach
July 8, 2008
Cardiovascular Device & Drugs - Gary Burbach focused on QUALITY of LIFE for HEART FAILURE PATIENTS
Heartmate II leads the way in options for smaller bodies
July 8, 2008
Cardiovascular Device & Drugs - Last month's approval of the advanced generation ventricular assist device (VAD) from Thoratec (Pleasanton, California) ? the HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) ? is leading the way in heart pump devices that are smaller, and touted as more efficient, and thus more available for implantation in smaller bodies: women, smaller men and younger people.
Heart pump effectiveness
July 8, 2008
WCBD – TV, South Carolina - In the coming years, thousands of people with fatal diseases of the heart will continue to enjoy birthdays, weddings, and the company of grandchildren.
Device helps keep heart pumping
July 1, 2008
KWTV-TV CH 9 (CBS) Oklahoma City - State-of-the-art technology for heart disease patients is now available in our state.
Device Firm Has Hunger For Change
June 27, 2008
Investor's Business Daily - Thoratec has no qualms about cannibalizing the market for its first-generation heart pump.
Could heart transplants become a thing of the past?
June 9, 2008
University of Michigan Health Systems Newsletter - Heart transplants save the lives of more than 2,100 Americans every year. But many more patients are still waiting for a new heart to become available, and hundreds will die without ever getting a second chance at life.
New Technology Provides Hope For Those Suffering Heart Failure
June 9, 2008
KUTV (CBS) – Salt Lake City - Years ago, it was often a death sentence, but in our Healthy Living report, new technology has providing new hope for patients suffering from heart failure.
HeartMate II Helping Patients With Failing Hearts
June 5, 2008
KTHV-TV CH 11 (CBS) Little Rock/Pine Bluff - "We've read that it can happen from a cold from pneumonia from arthritis, from regular infections that you would have and not think anything about it." Chuck Simons thought he was just getting another head cold when he went to his doctor in hot springs. That doctor visit ended like a bad dream. "So he came back in and said "Chuck, it's not a head cold," he said, "This is one of the worst EKG's I've ever seen." "He sent me over to a cardiologist in Hot Springs and they said you get to get checked into the hospital, do not pass go."
Patient takes heart with new implant
May 29, 2008
The Province (Vancouver) - When Al Smith was diagnosed with a rare and fatal heart condition, there was a chance the Victoria man would not live long enough to receive a transplant.
St. Paul's Hospital Performs Unprecedented Number of Mechanical Heart Implants
May 26, 2008
Market Wire - Physicians, patients and representatives from the Province and Provincial Health Services Authority will gather to recognize the B.C. Acute Heart Failure Program's unprecedented number of ventricular assist devices (or mechanical hearts) implanted this year - more than any other program of its kind in Canada.
The Heartsaver
May 15, 2008
WTOL 11 - It's the number one killer in America, but a brand-new, revolutionary device has the potential to save thousands battling heart disease.
Thoratec's tiny heart pump could offer the sickest cardiac patients an alternative to a transplant
May 5, 2008
Forbes - David Pierce used to get short of breath every time he climbed the half-flight of stairs in his suburban Detroit home. Four years ago the machinist's congestive heart disease, which had forced him to retire early from his job at General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ), had advanced to end-stage
Device Heals The Heart Of North Texas Woman
Apr 24, 2008
CBS 11 - A North Texas woman is alive, thanks to a mechanical device that repaired her diseased heart.
Heart assist device gives Duncanville resident chance at life
Apr 16, 2008
Duncanville Today - In the midst of any serious medical condition, it is difficult to be hopeful. Yet for Lois Coker of Duncanville and her family, one significant surgery brought a ray of hope to her diagnosis.
Saved by the Beat of Her Heart
Apr 4, 2008
Good Morning America - As a 17-year-old, Salina Gonzales successfully fought Hodgkin's lymphoma with chemotherapy, and at the time doctors said she'd go on to live a normal life.
How Could a Heart Pump Be as Effective as a Transplant?
Mar 26, 2008
ABC World News with Charles Gibson - A new experimental device to help a failing heart is awaiting FDA approval, but it has already helped save the life of one woman who agreed to test it.
The Spinning Heart
Mar 1, 2008
Best Life - Greg Jones is slouched in an office chair on the ground floor of his two-story house four miles west of downtown Chicago, a Windows error frozen on the computer screen behind him. I reach for his wrist—no pulse. I feel again, shifting my fingers to cover the radial artery—still nothing. That’s when I look at his face and he gives me a big smile.
Woman Lives With Heart Pump After Major Heart Attack
Feb 12, 2008
NBC 4 - For many people, a failing heart often means a transplant.
Show of heart
Jan 17, 2008
Sound Off - The system controller, an electronic device strapped around Jose Vargas' waist, suddenly buzzed while a row of tiny lights flashed.
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