A 44-year-old woman received the first successful heart transplant thanks to an investigative version of a Total Artificial Heart. The woman was the first person in California to receive the experimental, smaller, Total Artificial Heart, and the first person in the world with the device to be successfully bridged to a transplant — meaning she went from needing a transplant to actually receiving one. The 50cc SynCardia temporary total artificial heart is the smaller version of the 70cc SynCardia heart, which was approved for use in people awaiting a transplant by the FDA in 2004, and has been used by over 1,440 patients worldwide.
The 50cc is designed for use in smaller patients — this includes most women, adolescents, and some men. The device is used for patients with biventrical heart failure, meaning both sides of the heart are failing to pump blood enough to sustain the body. Nemah…
