ARTIFICIAL HEART IMPLANTED 70-YEAR-OLD UCLA PATIENT REPORTED DOING WELL AFTER 11-HOUR SURGERY.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer The fourth person to receive a self-contained artificial heart - and the first on the West Coast - is resting comfortably at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. after undergoing an 11-hour transplant operation, medical officials from the center announced Thursday. Cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. Hillel Laks and Dr. Daniel Marelli and cardiologist Dr. Jaime Moriguchi performed the operation Wednesday on the patient, described only as a man in his 70s. ``The operation went exceptionally well and the artificial heart is functioning beautifully,'' Laks said in a prepared statement. No further information on the patient was available. ``By definition of his inclusion in the clinical trials, he was extraordinarily ill, within 30 days of death,'' said Dr. Edward Berger, vice president for strategic policy and planning for Abiomed Inc., the manufacturer of the AbioCor implantable replacement heart. ``Typically the recovery process, even under the best of circumstances, will be slow.'' The University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , is one of five medical centers in the nation partnering with Danver, Mass.-based Abiomed Inc. in clinical trials to perform artificial-heart transplants. The company hopes to complete 15 procedures by June 2002. Medical centers selected to participate had to be affiliated with a university, have a long history of research into mechanical-heart transplant procedures and ``they had to have absolutely world-class surgeons who would serve as principal investigators,'' said Berger. ``UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX is a truly outstanding place in all of those measures.'' And although the university is on the forefront of what researchers are calling one of the most significant medical achievements, Dr. Michael Karpf, director of UCLA Medical Center, said international acclaim is nothing new. ``We try to take things in stride,'' Karpf said. ``We do everything from the best of routine care to cutting-edge medicine.'' Powered by internal and external battery sources, the AbioCor is designed to extend the lives of people with advanced heart disease - including ventricle ventricle /ven·tri·cle/ (ven´tri-k'l) a small cavity or chamber, as in the brain or heart.ventric´ular ventricle of Arantius the rhomboid fossa, especially its lower end. damage, 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. and coronary heart disease coronary heart disease: see coronary artery disease. coronary heart disease or ischemic heart disease Progressive reduction of blood supply to the heart muscle due to narrowing or blocking of a coronary artery (see atherosclerosis). . Candidates for AbioCor transplants are considered too high-risk for conventional transplant procedures. The two-pound device, made of titanium and a polyurethane plastic called Angioflex, includes artificial ventricles and a motorized mo·tor·ize tr.v. mo·tor·ized, mo·tor·iz·ing, mo·tor·iz·es 1. To equip with a motor. 2. To supply with motor-driven vehicles. 3. To provide with automobiles. pumping system. Robert Tools, a 59-year-old retired phone company librarian in Franklin, Ky., received the first AbioCor transplant July 2 at Jewish Hospital, University of Louisville See also
1. ^ [1] 2. ^ [2] URL accessed on June 8 2006 3. . More than 100 days after surgery, Tools is out of the intensive care unit, undergoing rehabilitation and taking periodic trips outside the hospital, Berger said. |
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