First patient in Turkey with Total Artificial Heart attends TUYOD meeting

In May 2011, Omer Bayrak made headlines when he became the first patient in Turkey to be discharged from the hospital using the Freedom® portable driver to power his SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. Since returning home to wait for a matching donor heart, Mr. Bayrak has been enjoying his new-found celebrity as "the only man in Turkey who lives without a heart."

On Sept. 17, after almost 180 days of support with SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart, Mr. Bayrak attended the annual meeting of the Turkish Society for Artificial Organs and Support Systems (TUYOD). During a session about the Total Artificial Heart, he was invited to the stage and the audience asked him several questions. He responded that he was "doing really well and very comfortable with SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart." He also added that he is continuing his daily life with very few limitations, and has returned to work.

Mr. Bayrak is also currently featured on an eight-story tall billboard on Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul. In English, the billboard reads, "The only man in Turkey who lives without a heart but with an artificial heart. Florence Nightingale Heart Transplant and Total Artificial Heart Center."

Prior to receiving SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart, Mr. Bayrak had been suffering from congestive heart failure since 2001. Four years ago, he underwent cardiac resynchronization therapy and received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Last year, he was hospitalized 11 times for inotropic support.

For 15 days prior to receiving SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart, Mr. Bayrak had been in the cardiac intensive care unit. He was on the urgent list for heart transplantation but his cardiac function continued to worsen. As a result, on March 21, 2011, he became the hospital's first patient to receive SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart.

Three months later, on May 20, 2011, Mr. Bayrak was discharged from the hospital to wait for a matching donor heart at home using the Freedom portable driver, the world's first wearable power supply for SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart. The Freedom portable driver is CE approved for use in Europe and undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S.

SynCardia recognizes and thanks Ufuk Yaranli and Natura Medikal Urunler Ltd., the Turkish distributor for the Total Artificial Heart, for their commitment and on-going support of Florence Nightingale Hospital.

CAUTION – The Freedom® portable driver is an investigational device, limited by United States law to investigational use.