Robert Drummond of Hillside, NJ lost count of the number of times his
heart stopped. Pacemakers, defibrillators, medications and hope were
not enough to keep his heart beating while he waited for a transplant.
Now, an extraordinary new heart pump is bridging that gap.
Mr. Drummond is the first in NJ and only the seventeenth in the United
States to rely on a small, quiet, implantable electromagnetic pump to
circulate blood throughout his body. This ventricular assist device
(VAD), known as the DuraHeart, is the most technologically advanced
heart pump available in the United States and the Heart Center at Newark
Beth Israel Medical Center is only the fourth program in the country
to implant it.
More than 6,000 VADs have been implanted in the United States and Newark
Beth Israel Medical Center is one of the nation’s most experienced
and active implant centers. Since they implanted NJ’s first
VAD in 1993, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at the Saint Barnabas
Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel continue to advance research in the
field and broaden use of the devices. Experts from other heart centers
in the region come to Newark Beth Israel to receive training and gain
competence in the use of a variety of VADs.
“Once reserved as a treatment of last resort for people with
end-stage heart failure, the latest generation of pumps is enhancing
the quality of life for people with less severe heart failure,” explained
Mark J. Zucker, MD, JD, Director of Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant
at the Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center who has been
involved with the application of mechanical assist devices since the
1980s. “Potentially, more than 40,000 Americans will need a heart
transplant and only about 2,500 donor hearts are available each year.
We are compelled to explore alternative treatments for advanced heart
failure.”
Mr. Drummond’s small, silent DuraHeart is a stark contrast to
the first clunky heart pumps that whirred and ticked and rarely lasted
for more than several months. Weighing nearly four pounds, the early
devices were so big that they were only suitable for patients with a
large frame, which excluded most women from this treatment option. Furthermore,
their complex function and maintenance often kept patients hospitalized
for as long as the pump remained implanted.
In contrast, Mr. Drummond was released from the hospital within a couple
of weeks and he described his DuraHeart as user-friendly. “There
really isn’t much to do, I just have to know how and when to change
the batteries,” he said. The DuraHeart represents several
leaps forward in heart pump technology. For example, the two moving
parts that comprise the three-inch-diameter pump are separated by electromagnetic
levitation that eliminates mechanical friction and prevents damage to
delicate blood cells as they flow through the pump. The DuraHeart even
has the capability to speed up or slow down in response to the body’s
changing activity level and the native heart’s ability to carry
the load.
The newest VADs can be a bridge to transplant or provide therapy for
people who are not eligible for a transplant. “Mechanical circulatory
assist devices have advanced so dramatically in the last two decades
that the field of cardiology is seeing a rapid expansion of this therapy,” said
Margarita Camacho, MD, Surgical Director of Cardiac Transplant and Assist
Devices, Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Camacho
chairs the Society of Thoracic Surgeons national Workforce on the Surgical
Treatment of End Stage Cardiopulmonary Disease and is spearheading simulated
computer VAD training. “Today’s VADs can function for
up to three to five years and perhaps longer while people resume active
lives at home,” she noted.
Mr. Drummond’s heart pump represents a triumph of two decades
of medical research, yet for him it is simply another step in his journey
to a heart transplant. “I want to be here longer for my family,” he
remarked. As he adjusts to life with a high-tech VAD, Mr. Drummond dreams
about one day being able to shoot hoops in the yard with his grandchildren.
Saint Barnabas Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, NJ, has a distinguished history
in the field of cardiology. Our pioneering physicians performed the
first early coronary bypass procedures as well as the first heart
transplant in New Jersey. Their work in the development
and use of pacemakers is world renowned. Building on that legacy,
our nationally respected cardiac physicians, surgeons and researchers
continue to make significant advances in cardiac care.
At the Saint Barnabas Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical
Center, New Jersey residents have access to one of the nation’s
finest and most comprehensive cardiovascular programs that was ranked
among the nation’s 50 best hospitals in Heart and Heart
Surgery by U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best
Hospitals 2009-10. Highly specialized care includes minimally
invasive and robotic-assisted cardiac procedures, state-of-the-art
technology that provides astounding images of the heart for more precise
diagnosis, and the latest generation of ventricular assist devices
designed to take over the pumping action for a diseased heart. Our
heart transplant program remains among the most active in the country,
ranking ninth in the nation by volume, with short- and long-term graft
survival rates that consistently exceed national benchmarks.
Date: August 17, 2009
Contact: Caren Malone
Public Relations Department
Saint Barnabas Health
Care System
973-322-4017, cmalone@sbhcs.com
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