CardioWest Total Artificial Heart recipient going strong for more than 10 months

Sep 2 2009

Over the last five years, Jim Hennigan has had four different hearts beating in his chest… the heart he was born with, two donor hearts and a Total Artificial Heart.

Hennigan received his newest donor heart on May 8, 2009, after living for more than 300 days with the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.

“The Total Artificial Heart did a phenomenal job of keeping me healthy and active for more than 10 months,” said Hennigan. “My body got so used to the efficiency of the Total Artificial Heart that when I got the donor heart, it had a hard time keeping up.”

With the Total Artificial Heart, Hennigan was able to walk for up to an hour on the treadmill, ride the exercise bike and push his 450-lb driver around the hospital. The size and weight of the driver, which powered his Total Artificial Heart, kept him confined to the hospital while he waited for his matching donor heart.

“The Total Artificial Heart is fantastic,” said Hennigan. “The downside was staying in the hospital the whole time. If I’d had a portable driver like the one approved for use in Europe, I would’ve been able to do things like watch my son’s basketball games, attend my daughter’s cheerleading competitions and get up in the morning to make them lunch for school.”

Hennigan received his first heart transplant in 2004, but over time, his body suffered from chronic rejection of his new heart. In 2008, doctors told Hennigan he would need another heart transplant.

When Hennigan arrived at the hospital on July 1, 2008, his kidneys and liver had shut down. He was placed on a feeding tube because his bowels were obstructed. To save Hennigan’s life, his doctors implanted the Total Artificial Heart to recover his vital organs and bridge him to a second donor heart transplant.

During 2008, 10% of people who were implanted with the Total Artificial Heart received the device because they were suffering from rejection of their donor heart transplant.

 http://www.syncardia.com