ADVISORY/News Conference - Teen-age Patient at UMC is Youngest in World to be Placed on Total Artificial Heart.Health/Medical Writers ADVISORY...for Monday, Dec. 22 TUCSON, Az.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 2003 The University of Arizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. Health Sciences Center--
WHAT: The youngest patient in the world to be implanted with a
total artificial heart speaks about his experiences.
Heart surgeon Jack G. Copeland, MD, also will speak.
WHEN: Monday, Dec. 22, at 2:00 p.m. (EST)
WHERE: University Medical Center, UA Sarver Heart Center,
1501 N. Campbell Ave.
Media will be escorted from the lobby of UMC.
Alex Rowe became the youngest person in the world to be placed on a total artificial heart on Oct. 7, 2003, when surgeons at University Medical Center removed his own diseased heart and replaced it with the CardioWest Total Artificial Heart (TAH TAH abbr. total abdominal hysterectomy TAH 1 Total abdominal hysterectomy 2 Transfusion-associated hepatitis, see there ). The device, developed at UMC UMC United Methodist Church UMC United Microelectronics Corporation UMC University Medical Center UMC United Microelectronics Corp (Republic of China) UMC University of Missouri-Columbia , kept him alive for two months before he underwent a heart transplant on Dec. 9, 2003. Jack G. Copeland, MD, and Pei Tsau, MD, performed the surgery. Alex suffers from muscular dystrophy muscular dystrophy (dĭs`trōfē), any of several inherited diseases characterized by progressive wasting of the skeletal muscles. There are five main forms of the disease. , but didn't have heart problems until this summer, when his heart became stiff and unable to pump blood efficiently. His heart went into cardiac arrest cardiac arrest n. Abbr. CA A sudden cessation of cardiac function, resulting in loss of effective circulation. Cardiac arrest A condition in which the heart stops functioning. during a catheterization catheterization Threading of a flexible tube (catheter) through a channel in the body to inject drugs or a contrast medium, measure and record flow and pressures, inspect structures, take samples, diagnose disorders, or clear blockages. procedure at UMC and, after 20 minutes of unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, surgeons decided to take out Alex's heart and replace it with the CardioWest TAH. He was 15 at the time. Alex spent his 16th birthday in the hospital waiting for a heart to become available. About two weeks ago, he got the call he and his family had been waiting for. The heart transplant went smoothly and Alex was discharged today. Alex -- the son of a doctor father and nurse mother -- is from Mesa but will live in Tucson for the next few months as he recuperates. The CardioWest TAH is designed for severely ill patients with end-stage congestive heart failure congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of workload for a considerable length of time. . The CardioWest TAH serves as an in-hospital bridge-to-transplantation for patients at imminent risk of death. CardioWest TAH is developed by SynCardia Systems of Tucson. |
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