Friday, May 21, 2004
And an article from my local paper, the Austin American-Statesman, Metro & State section, Friday, May 21, 2004:
Small heart pump making big difference to patients
Small devices becoming a way to return patients to normal lives while they wait for transplants
By Juan A. Lozano
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, May 21, 2004
HOUSTON -- A small blood pump bolstered not only 19-year-old Everardo Flores' failing heart but also his self-esteem.
"When I was in school, I would fall asleep in every class. I thought I couldn't learn," said Flores, who in November became the first U.S. patient to receive the next generation in heart pumps. "It was just I was so tired. But then they put the pump in, and there hasn't been a limit. . . . I feel good with it."
Flores is one of many patients who have received left ventricular assist devices at the Texas Heart Institute, which for more than 30 years has pioneered work in the development of this medical technology. Unlike earlier, bulkier pumps, the one Flores has weighs 12 ounces and is 2 1/2 inches long.
On Thursday, doctors with the institute, Flores and three other patients with heart failure discussed the benefits of this apparatus on the eve of a symposium that will delve into the pumps' history and future.
Doctors say the heart pumps are evolving from stopgap devices to permanent implants that can provide long-term care to some patients.
The device was created to help the heart's left ventricle, a large muscular chamber that pumps blood out to the body. Failing hearts become unable to circulate enough blood. A left ventricular assist device helps with the pumping and can keep a person alive until a new heart can be found.
"As many as 70,000 to 80,000 Americans are homebound with heart failure," said Dr. O.H. "Bud" Frazier, chief of cardiopulmonary transplantation at the heart institute, based at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. "Many can be returned to active lives while they wait for a transplant."
Since the 1980s, more than 5,000 patients worldwide have been helped by these heart pumps. The landmark research in their creation was initiated by world-renowned and Houston-based heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, who will speak at the symposium at St. Luke's, scheduled for today and Saturday.
For almost three years, Thurston Davis has continued his normal, busy life while he waits for a new heart.
Davis, 32, works at a barbershop in northwest Houston and helps take care of his two children, who were born after he received his first heart pump. He got a second pump in August.
"I never thought I would be able to do any of this because you feel you're going to be limited" after getting the device, he said.
Guillermo Torre-Amione, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said that although up to 60,000 people could be eligible for a heart transplant each year, only about 2,200 are performed because of few available organs.
Dr. Stephen Westaby, a senior cardiac surgeon at Oxford University in England, said the supply of available hearts will never meet the demand. Doctors at Thursday's news conference said heart pumps will become less a bridge to transplant and more a way to return patients to health and normal lives.
"This is going to be the wave of the future," Westaby said. "There are 20 more blood pumps in development of the miniature kind. Artificial heart technology has never been in a better (state). It all started and continues in Houston."
Though various heart pumps are going through clinical studies around the country, only the HeartMate, a pump Frazier helped pioneer in the 1980s, has been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration.
That has been somewhat frustrating for many doctors.
"There are barriers that are regulatory and there are scientific barriers," said Frazier, who has implanted more than 250 of the devices, more than anyone in the world.
Small heart pump making big difference to patients
Small devices becoming a way to return patients to normal lives while they wait for transplants
By Juan A. Lozano
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, May 21, 2004
HOUSTON -- A small blood pump bolstered not only 19-year-old Everardo Flores' failing heart but also his self-esteem.
"When I was in school, I would fall asleep in every class. I thought I couldn't learn," said Flores, who in November became the first U.S. patient to receive the next generation in heart pumps. "It was just I was so tired. But then they put the pump in, and there hasn't been a limit. . . . I feel good with it."
Flores is one of many patients who have received left ventricular assist devices at the Texas Heart Institute, which for more than 30 years has pioneered work in the development of this medical technology. Unlike earlier, bulkier pumps, the one Flores has weighs 12 ounces and is 2 1/2 inches long.
On Thursday, doctors with the institute, Flores and three other patients with heart failure discussed the benefits of this apparatus on the eve of a symposium that will delve into the pumps' history and future.
Doctors say the heart pumps are evolving from stopgap devices to permanent implants that can provide long-term care to some patients.
The device was created to help the heart's left ventricle, a large muscular chamber that pumps blood out to the body. Failing hearts become unable to circulate enough blood. A left ventricular assist device helps with the pumping and can keep a person alive until a new heart can be found.
"As many as 70,000 to 80,000 Americans are homebound with heart failure," said Dr. O.H. "Bud" Frazier, chief of cardiopulmonary transplantation at the heart institute, based at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. "Many can be returned to active lives while they wait for a transplant."
Since the 1980s, more than 5,000 patients worldwide have been helped by these heart pumps. The landmark research in their creation was initiated by world-renowned and Houston-based heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, who will speak at the symposium at St. Luke's, scheduled for today and Saturday.
For almost three years, Thurston Davis has continued his normal, busy life while he waits for a new heart.
Davis, 32, works at a barbershop in northwest Houston and helps take care of his two children, who were born after he received his first heart pump. He got a second pump in August.
"I never thought I would be able to do any of this because you feel you're going to be limited" after getting the device, he said.
Guillermo Torre-Amione, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said that although up to 60,000 people could be eligible for a heart transplant each year, only about 2,200 are performed because of few available organs.
Dr. Stephen Westaby, a senior cardiac surgeon at Oxford University in England, said the supply of available hearts will never meet the demand. Doctors at Thursday's news conference said heart pumps will become less a bridge to transplant and more a way to return patients to health and normal lives.
"This is going to be the wave of the future," Westaby said. "There are 20 more blood pumps in development of the miniature kind. Artificial heart technology has never been in a better (state). It all started and continues in Houston."
Though various heart pumps are going through clinical studies around the country, only the HeartMate, a pump Frazier helped pioneer in the 1980s, has been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration.
That has been somewhat frustrating for many doctors.
"There are barriers that are regulatory and there are scientific barriers," said Frazier, who has implanted more than 250 of the devices, more than anyone in the world.
