The man you see in the picture is named Chad washington and he is sporting the first ever mechanical heart and pumping device which he carries with him on his back. Chad, age 35, underwent the seven-hour transplant surgery at UCLA on Oct. 29, led by Dr. Murray Kwon, an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery. The temporary pump will act as a "bridge" until Washington receives a new donor heart! It is said that in the past, patients that had a mechanical artificial heart were forced to be hospitalized because the machine used to power the pump was too large and too heavy for one person to carry around. But the latest advancements in technology have allowed for that same machinary to be condensed into a smaller form (like the size and weight of a backpack) so people who are waiting on a live donor heart can lead relatively normal lives in the meantime.
Above is an internal view of how the pump fits into the chest cavity and connects to the pump worn on the persons back. Washington is quoted saying "It ticks like a clock in my chest and I can hear it", but claims that the machine doesn't feel foreign to him. He's estatic that he lives in a time that such technology is avaible to people like him that truly benefit from it. Washington is an aspiring chef and is married and has a 4-year-old son, he has suffered from heart disease since he was born. From the time he was 10 days old through adulthood, he underwent a series of heart-repair surgeries and had pacemakers and a defibrillator implanted. Then his heart deteriorated. He received a heart transplant in February, and for the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to live with a healthy heart. It gave him energy, and he was amazed that he could run 25 minutes on a treadmill! The excitement was short lived for the heart transplant he recieved started to show some serious signs of rejection and they had no choice but to remove it. What was worse was that now Washington's body had formed anti-bodies to combat new heart transplants, meaning that if he were to recieve a new one yet again, his immune system would immediately attack it.
The artificial heart was his only hope for survival at this point. Not only did it keep him alive while he waited for a new heart to become available but it allowed his body to return to normal so the new transplant wouldn't be as likely to reject. It's also important becuase it allows the patient to live a fairly normal life and is able to spend time with family outside the hospital, which is essential when going through such a hard time.
Approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2004, the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart replaces both failing heart ventricles and the four heart valves. It works by providing a high volume of blood-flow through both ventricles, which helps to speed the recovery of vital organs and make the patient a better candidate for transplant surgery. Once the total artificial heart is implanted, it is connected by two small air tubes known as "drivelines" to a large external driver that powers the heart while the patient remains hospitalized. When the patient's condition stabilizes post-operatively, he or she can be switched over to the smaller 13.5-pound Freedom portable driver, which can be carried in a backpack, thus giving the patient the freedom to leave the hospital.
"My family and I are so thankful for all of the support we've been getting from the doctors and staff here at the hospital, as well as our family and friends," Washington said.
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