Surgeons at Cincinnati-based The Christ Hospital performed a successful human implantation of the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, marking the fourth hospital in the U.S. to complete the procedure as part of the FDA's early feasibility study.
The procedure was performed in October at The Christ Hospital by cardiothoracic surgeons Rob Dowling, MD, the Chris and Trey Heekin Family Endowed Chair for Cardiac Transplantation, and Geoff Answini, MD, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, according to a Nov. 15 news release from The Christ Hospital Health Network.
"Our patient woke up pain-free after years of suffering and was walking the halls just five days after surgery," Miriam Freundt, MD, cardiovascular ICU and ECMO program director, said in the release.
The first implantation of the device was performed at Houston-based Texas Heart Institute in July, the second was performed in August at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Hospital and the third was performed at Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix.
The device recently made TimeTime's "Best Inventions of 2024" list.