A report on a Taiwanese breakthrough in cardiovascular surgery will be published in a prestigious international medical periodical, the Taipei Veterans General Hospital said yesterday.
"It is the first time in the world an eosinophilic cardiomypathy sufferer had his life sustained for 226 days with a heart-assistance device before a heart transplant became available," said Lai Shiao-ting (
Lai said that of all sufferers of the rare disease, fewer than 10 have survived. Many die awaiting a heart for transplant.
The now 30-year-old patient surnamed Hsieh (
Lai said the hospital's report on the case has been accepted by The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a distinguished medical periodical, and is to be published before the end of the year.
He said sufferers of the disease, who experience weak heart function due to an inflammation of the heart muscle, cannot live unless they receive timely transplants. The disorder known as eosinophilic, a special type of white blood cell, causes the inflammation.
Lai implanted a pneumatic left ventricular assistance device to sustain Hsieh's life for 266 days until a heart was found.
The device helps the heart function by pumping blood through the body.
The implant was given when several other measures could no longer maintain heart function and Hsieh failed to find a heart donor.
The patient's then-poorly functioning lungs, liver and kidneys due to the weakening heart gradually recovered after implantation, Lai said.
The hospital official explained that another achievement in treating the rare case was that doctors overcame some typical problems associated with organ transplants.
"We began the transplant about five hours after the heart was removed from the donor's body, while usually an organ transplant must be carried out within four hours after the organ is taken out."
He explained that adhesion of the patient's heart to the surrounding tissues led to difficulties in removing the heart and delayed the transplant beyond the four-hour window.
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