Artificial Heart Designed For Women Presented at Annual Go Red For Women Event.TUCSON, Ariz. -- Marvin J. Slepian, M.D., chairman and co-founder of SynCardia Systems, Inc., the manufacturer of the CardioWest[TM] temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t), will present a prototype of a smaller TAH-t designed for use in women at the 3rd Annual American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. (AHA) Go Red For Women event on June 21 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Dr. Slepian, the keynote speaker, will present the smaller 50 cc TAH-t, specifically designed for use in women, adolescents and smaller adults. SynCardia's 70 cc CardioWest TAH-t, in use since the '80s, fits a majority of adult men and many women. The company plans to have the 50 cc TAH-t in development by 2009. All new devices require FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. review and approval prior to being made available to the public. The Go Red For Women campaign raises awareness that heart disease is now the number one killer of women, along with men, in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the AHA, cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease Disease that affects the heart and blood vessels. Mentioned in: Lipoproteins Test cardiovascular disease kills more than 480,000 women a year, nearly one per minute. Sixty-four percent of women who experienced sudden death from 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). had no previous symptoms. "The risk for women is even higher than men because they tend to show fewer symptoms and are therefore less likely to seek early treatment," said Dr. Slepian, an interventional cardiologist at University Medical Center in Tucson. The CardioWest TAH-t is currently used as a bridge to transplant. It keeps patients who are suffering from end stage biventricular failure alive while they wait for a human donor heart. It is the only FDA and CE mark (for Europe) approved temporary total artificial heart in the world. TAH-t Doubles Odds of Living Another Year - Heart transplant eligible patients who are near death from end stage biventricular heart failure increase their odds of living another year from 31 percent to 70 percent when they are bridged to transplant with the CardioWest TAH-t, based on a comparison with a set of historical control patients who were matched to the patients receiving the artificial heart (New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. 2004; 351: 859-867). |
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