First Polish artificial heart ventricle for children
In four years the artificial ventricle for children will be used routinely, if clinical trials are successful, said director general of the Foundation for Cardiac Surgery Development in Zabrze Jan Sarna at a press conference in Warsaw.
"The artificial ventricle to support the heart operation has been used
for many years in adult patients, in cases where there are no other
treatment options" - said Dr. Grzegorz Religa, a clinical consultant of
the Foundation. It is used for people waiting for a transplant or those
in whom heart failure is temporary, for example caused by myocarditis or
postoperative complications. With the ventricle, a patient can survive
even a year or more, during this time finding a suitable donor, and in
some cases relieved heart regenerates.
"In Poland, artificial
heart ventricles have already used in more than 200 patients. But these
were only adults, as typical ventricles are too large for a child and
difficult to properly adjust" - explained director Sarna. Reducing the
size is not enough to fit a ventricle for use in children, several
technical problems also need to be addressed. This has been possible
with the experience of experts in several areas such as materials
science and welding.
Work began back in 2008. The ventricle
designed for children of school age (body weight from 20 to 40 kg) was
made of polyurethane coated with a special coating of titanium. Is
driven by air supplied by the control console, similarly to ventricles
for adults. In 2010, the ventricle was tested in a special lab developed
and launched in cooperation with the Austrian Institute Bioengineering
in Vienna.
The tests allowed to assess the risk of blood clots,
and ultimately confirmed the device’s readiness for animal testing and
clinical trials. Handmade ventricle prototype will soon undergo final
tests (including ones with the use of pig blood).
Then a series
of ventricles for clinical research will be manufactured industrially
(all devices must be identical). If tests are successful, appropriate
procedure will be developed an and implantation of artificial ventricles
will become the routine treatment of acute heart failure in children,
funded by the Ministry of Health or the National Health Fund.
Currently,
only few centres in the world use artificial heart ventricles -
American, Japanese, German and Polish. The only commercially available
ventricle for children is a German ventricle (it costs about 30 000
euros). Polish project is financed internally by the foundation, from
public collection and by donors.
Director Sarna noted that the
development of Polish artificial heart ventricle for children would not
be possible as scheduled, without the financial support of the company
Jeronimo Martins Dystrybucja S.A., Biedronka chain owner, which is a
strategic partner of the campaign, "With a heart to a heart." The
company was honoured this year by the Foundation for Cardiac Surgery
Development with the "Heart to Heart" statue. (PAP)
last modification: 2010-12-29
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