Heart Transplant: The Man Without A Heart | Medical News and Health Information

Reported August 5, 2011

Heart Transplant: The Man Without A Heart -- Research Summary

BACKGROUND: A heart transplant is an operation in which a failing heart is replaced with a healthier, donor heart. This surgery is usually reserved for people who have tried medications or other surgeries but haven't improved sufficiently. Heart failure can be caused by coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, a congenital heart defect, or a previous failed heart transplant. For those patients who can't have a transplant, another option may be a ventricular assist device (VAD). A VAD is a miniature pump implanted in the patient's chest that helps pump blood through the body. VADs are commonly used as a temporary treatment for people waiting for a heart transplant but are increasingly being used as a permanent treatment for heart failure.
(SOURCE: Mayo Clinic)

DONOR HEARTS: Patients who are eligible for a heart transplant are placed on a waiting list for a donor heart. Organs are matched for blood type and size of donor and recipient. About 3,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a heart transplant on any given day. About 2,000 donor hearts are available each year. Wait times may vary from days to several months.
(SOURCE: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)

LIVING WITHOUT A HEART: Charles Okeke was known as "the man without a heart" as he waited two years for a donor heart. His heart failed when his own antibodies attacked it. Okeke lived in the hospital for two years and was attached to a device known as "Big Blue." He was attached to this large, mobile device night and day for 600 days. Big Blue pumped nine and a half liters of blood into Okeke a day, but it was still a rather cumbersome device. Dr. Francisco Arabia, of the Mayo Clinic, followed Okeke very closely all the way to the day that he was able to leave the hospital and return home to his family. The FDA approved a 13-pound backpack-sized version of Big Blue, allowing Okeke to move with ease and become the first patient in the United States to live at home with an artificial heart. This device is called the Freedom Driver, and it runs on batteries, which connect to the artificial heart by two tubes that enter the body through the abdominal wall. Okeke did end up receiving a new heart and a new kidney. MORE ► Heart Transplant: The Man Without A Heart -- Research Summary | Medical News and Health Information: "Reported August 5, 2011
(SOURCE: Mayo Clinic)

.FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Lynn Closway
Mayo Clinic
Phoenix, AZ
Closway.Lynn@mayo.edu


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