He survived 100 days without a human heart—could this change transplants forever?
- Replies 0
Medical breakthroughs often push the boundaries of what was once thought possible, offering new hope to those facing life-threatening conditions.
A recent procedure in Australia has marked a historic moment in cardiac care, demonstrating the potential of cutting-edge technology to transform heart failure treatment.
What unfolded was a milestone achievement that could change the future of transplants and long-term survival for patients worldwide.
A man from New South Wales made medical history as the first person to leave a hospital with a total artificial heart implant, surviving on the device for over 100 days before receiving a donor heart in early March.
The BiVACOR total artificial heart, designed by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, functioned as a complete heart replacement using magnetic levitation technology to mimic natural blood flow.
Doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney implanted the device on 22 November in a six-hour procedure led by cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Paul Jansz.
Jansz described the surgery as a groundbreaking moment, saying: ‘We’ve worked towards this moment for years and we’re enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure.’
The Australian patient, a man in his 40s, had been suffering from severe heart failure and volunteered to be the first recipient of the device in Australia and the sixth worldwide.
Unlike previous recipients in the US, who all received donor hearts before hospital discharge, he was the first to return home with the artificial heart.
The implant was part of an ongoing clinical study targeting patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure, a condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively due to damage from conditions like coronary heart disease, heart attacks, or diabetes.
Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St Vincent’s, monitored the patient after surgery and described the BiVACOR heart as a game-changer for transplants.
‘The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart ushers in a whole new ball game for heart transplants, both in Australia and internationally,’ he said.
‘Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available.’
The Australian government contributed $50 million to the artificial heart frontiers program to develop and commercialise the device.
Heart failure affects more than 23 million people globally each year, but only 6,000 receive a donor heart.
The BiVACOR heart was designed as a temporary measure to sustain patients until a donor organ became available, though researchers hoped it could eventually serve as a permanent replacement.
The first five recipients in the US had spent no more than 27 days with the artificial heart before receiving a transplant.
After being discharged in February, the Australian patient lived with the device for over three months before a matching donor heart was found.
Professor David Colquhoun from the University of Queensland, who was not involved in the trial, called the achievement ‘a great technological step forward for artificial hearts–bridging hearts–before transplant.’
However, he noted that artificial hearts were still far from replacing donor organs, as a functioning donor heart typically lasted over a decade—significantly longer than the 100 days observed in this case.
Colquhoun pointed out that medical advances had reduced heart disease fatalities compared to the late 1960s, when 47,000 Australians died from heart disease annually out of a population of 11 million.
By 2022, the number of deaths had dropped to 45,000, despite the population doubling to 22 million.
The BiVACOR heart was one of several innovations being tested under the Monash University-led Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, which aimed to develop new treatments for heart failure.
In a previous story, another groundbreaking procedure made headlines when doctors successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a living person.
While these advancements offer hope, the challenge of organ shortages remains far from solved.
Read more about this medical milestone and what it means for the future of transplants.
With medical technology advancing rapidly, could artificial hearts become a long-term alternative to transplants? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
A recent procedure in Australia has marked a historic moment in cardiac care, demonstrating the potential of cutting-edge technology to transform heart failure treatment.
What unfolded was a milestone achievement that could change the future of transplants and long-term survival for patients worldwide.
A man from New South Wales made medical history as the first person to leave a hospital with a total artificial heart implant, surviving on the device for over 100 days before receiving a donor heart in early March.
The BiVACOR total artificial heart, designed by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, functioned as a complete heart replacement using magnetic levitation technology to mimic natural blood flow.
Doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney implanted the device on 22 November in a six-hour procedure led by cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Paul Jansz.
Man survives 100 days with artificial heart. Image source: Claire Usmar/BiVACOR
Jansz described the surgery as a groundbreaking moment, saying: ‘We’ve worked towards this moment for years and we’re enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure.’
The Australian patient, a man in his 40s, had been suffering from severe heart failure and volunteered to be the first recipient of the device in Australia and the sixth worldwide.
Unlike previous recipients in the US, who all received donor hearts before hospital discharge, he was the first to return home with the artificial heart.
The implant was part of an ongoing clinical study targeting patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure, a condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively due to damage from conditions like coronary heart disease, heart attacks, or diabetes.
Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St Vincent’s, monitored the patient after surgery and described the BiVACOR heart as a game-changer for transplants.
‘The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart ushers in a whole new ball game for heart transplants, both in Australia and internationally,’ he said.
‘Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available.’
The Australian government contributed $50 million to the artificial heart frontiers program to develop and commercialise the device.
Heart failure affects more than 23 million people globally each year, but only 6,000 receive a donor heart.
The BiVACOR heart was designed as a temporary measure to sustain patients until a donor organ became available, though researchers hoped it could eventually serve as a permanent replacement.
The first five recipients in the US had spent no more than 27 days with the artificial heart before receiving a transplant.
After being discharged in February, the Australian patient lived with the device for over three months before a matching donor heart was found.
Professor David Colquhoun from the University of Queensland, who was not involved in the trial, called the achievement ‘a great technological step forward for artificial hearts–bridging hearts–before transplant.’
However, he noted that artificial hearts were still far from replacing donor organs, as a functioning donor heart typically lasted over a decade—significantly longer than the 100 days observed in this case.
Colquhoun pointed out that medical advances had reduced heart disease fatalities compared to the late 1960s, when 47,000 Australians died from heart disease annually out of a population of 11 million.
By 2022, the number of deaths had dropped to 45,000, despite the population doubling to 22 million.
The BiVACOR heart was one of several innovations being tested under the Monash University-led Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, which aimed to develop new treatments for heart failure.
In a previous story, another groundbreaking procedure made headlines when doctors successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a living person.
While these advancements offer hope, the challenge of organ shortages remains far from solved.
Read more about this medical milestone and what it means for the future of transplants.
With medical technology advancing rapidly, could artificial hearts become a long-term alternative to transplants? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
