Methodist surgical team completes first phase training to implant new total artificial heart

A 13-member surgical team from the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center completed the first phase of training to implant a new total artificial heart designed to completely replace the heart's function while the patient waits for a heart transplant. Methodist will be the first hospital in Texas to offer this total heart replacement.

The SynCardia total artificial heart is the only FDA-approved total artificial heart and has the highest bridge-to-transplant rate of any approved heart assist device in the world.

"Methodist offers 10 different cardiac support devices for our patients, but there is only one FDA-approved total artificial heart," said Dr. Matthias Loebe, transplant surgeon with the Methodist Transplant Center in Houston. "It is the only device that allows us to replace both sides of the heart, providing time for patients who have no other option besides transplant."

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD), the most common mechanical heart pump, helps one side of the heart pump more effectively. However, when both pumping chambers of the heart, the left and right ventricles, can no longer pump enough blood to sustain the body, vital organs like the kidneys, liver and brain are starved of blood. If adequate blood flow is not restored in time, tissue may die and vital organs can suffer permanent damage.

"Our patients who need this device have no options other than an immediate heart transplant," said Dr. Brian Bruckner, cardiac surgeon at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. "Unfortunately, there are not enough donor hearts to help everyone who needs one. The average wait time for a heart transplant for these patients is close to five months, and many patients don't have that kind of time. Soon we'll be able to pull an artificial heart off the shelf for them."