主页 > 医药生命 >
Totally artificial hearts offer hope
31 October 04
In 1982, Seattle dentist Barney Clark became the first person to be fitted with a permanent artificial heart. Although the 61-year-old’s life was extended by 112 days, most people would agree that his gruelling battle against a host of complications made his quality of life unacceptable.
But artificial heart technology has improved dramatically since then – so much so that last week the US Food and Drug Administration approved for the first time a “total artificial heart” (TAH), designed to fully replace a patient’s diseased heart until a donor heart becomes available. Called the CardioWest, it is made by SynCardia Systems of Tuscon, Arizona, and is a redesign of the device Clark received and has been through nine years of trials.
The FDA had previously approved a different type of artificial heart: the “left ventricular assist device” or LVAD. This sits alongside a diseased heart and helps it to pump, rather than replacing it. Some people have already survived six years on one, and more than 30 other artificial hearts are in development, mainly LVADs.
Some 6000 patients have been given them so far to bridge the gap to a transplant. But emerging artificial hearts are also expected to provide years of extra life to people who do not qualify for transplants.
1982年，西雅图牙医Barney Clark 成为使用固定人工心脏的第一人。经管，61岁的他接受人工心脏只存活了112天，但很多人同意他的经历解决了影响他生活质量的很多合并症。
自从上周fda正式批准TAH，一种可以完全替换病人的患病心脏直到供体心脏开始发挥作用的人工心脏，现在人工心脏技术已经有了骄人的改变。这项名为 CardioWest的技术是由SynCardia Systems of Tuscon, Arizona制造的，它是根据Clark当时使用的设备重新设计的，并且已经作了9年的实验。
fda以前曾批准过另一种类型的人工心脏，“左心室辅助装置”简称LVAD。它是安放在患病心脏的旁边的，辅助心脏跳动，而并非取代患病心脏，有人已经使用这种装置生活了6年。现在有30余中人工心脏在开发，主要都是LVAD型。
目前，大约6000名患者在使用人工心脏作为通向心脏移植的桥梁。人们也期待着新型的人工心脏可以为那些不适合作心脏移植手术的人延长生命。 [标签:content1][标签:content2]
阅读本文的人还阅读：
作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-02-07 05:14
医学,生命科学网