Total Artificial Heart(TAH)By:Jessica Blandin

Heart Failure(Congestive Heart Failure)

It is estimated that about 5 million Americans have congestive heart failure. There are about 550,000 new cases each year.

It occurs when the heart is unable to provide sufficient pump action to distribute blood flow to meet the needs of the body.

Treatments for it includes: dietary changes, exercise, medication. And sometimes it needs to be treated with a heart transplant.

Heart Transplant

Due to the increase of patients needing a heart transplant and the limited amount of organ donors it is difficult to obtain a heart transplant right away.

For patients with really critical conditions waiting for a heart donator is hard because they can die during that time span.

A total artificial heart can be a good option for them in while they wait for a heart donor.

What is a TAH?

The TAH is used to bridge the time to a heart transplant.

SynCardia CardioWest TAH

How does it work?

How does it work? (cont.)

How effective is it?

Statistics of post TAH transplant show that 75% of the patients are able to walk or move about and about 60% are able to walk a 100ft after two weeks following the implantation. In a study the overall survival to transplantation was achieved in 79% of patients receiving the TAH in contrast to 46% of the control group (control group had these qualifications: patients eligible for transplant, NYHA CHF Class IV, BSA range 1.7-2.5 , and hemodynamic insufficiency).

Cost Effective

It is estimated that the cost of an artificial heart includes: are the surgical procedure, device and console , and continued medical surveillance. The estimated amount ranges from a low $100,000 to a high $300,000

Conclusion

Sources:

1]"Artificial Heart." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,Web.

[2]"Heart Failure." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19

[3]"How Many People Suffer from Heart Failure? | The Sparman Clinic." How Many People Suffer from Heart Failure? | The Sparman Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web.

[4]Sale,MD, Shiva M. "My Library." Millennium Web Catalog. N.p., n.d. Web.

[5]Seplian, Martin J., Richard G. Smith, and Jake G. Copelend. "The Syncardia Total Artificial Heart." Syncardia. N.p., n.d. Web.

[6] DP, Luke. "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10311835>.

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