500th Patient Receives an INCOR Ventricular Assist Device at the German Heart Institute Berlin
INCOR(R) ventricular assist device was implanted on
German Heart Institute Berlin.
The 39-year-old male patient was suffering from dilative cardiomyopathy,
a disease that causes the heart to enlarge and the heart muscle to weaken to
the extent that it cannot provide enough blood flow through the body. The
cardiomyopathy progressed to a stage where conventional treatment was no
longer successful, and the patient was in urgent need of a heart
transplantation.
Due to the severe lack of donor hearts in
matching donor heart can be 18 months or longer. Modern implantable
ventricular assist devices are used to bridge the waiting time. With these
systems, the heart function can be stabilized and the patients can be
discharged home where they can resume a largely normal life.
Thus Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult.
German Heart Institute Berlin, decided to treat the patient with an
implantable ventricular assist device. Professor Hetzer describes the
progress: “The implantation went very well, there were no complications.
Thanks to our great experience with the INCOR device we could conduct the
implantation very quickly. We were able to mobilize the patient shortly after
the surgery, he is now in the cardiac ward. We are planning to discharge him
into a rehabilitation center within the next few days.”
Dr.
of the INCOR system: “Our ventricular assist devices play a crucial role in
the treatment of patients with end-stage heart failure. The German Heart
Institute has been a close partner in the development of the INCOR system.
This center also implanted the first INCOR patient. We are excited to also be
able to celebrate the 500th INCOR implantation with our longstanding partner,
the German Heart Institute Berlin. The continuous cooperation with our users
is an important factor of our worldwide success.”
About the INCOR ventricular assist device
INCOR is an implantable left ventricular assist device for adults. The
impeller, the only moving part within the pump, is magnetically levitated,
which makes the pump worldwide unique and ideally suited for long-term
support. Since the first implantation in
have been supported with the system, some of them for several years. The
longest support time so far is six years. In most cases, INCOR is implanted
in order to bridge the waiting time for a matching donor heart in patients
requiring heart transplantation. In rare cases the mechanical support can
lead to recovery of the heart and subsequent explantation of the system.
Increasingly these systems are also used as an alternative for patients who
cannot receive a heart transplant and for whom these systems represent a
life-saving alternative.
About Berlin Heart
Berlin Heart GmbH is the only company worldwide that develops, produces,
and distributes implantable and external ventricular assist devices for
patients of every age and body size. The company is market leader in
and
Contact and pictures:
Kerstin Unkel
Marketing & PR
Phone: +49(0)30-8187-2708
Mobile: +49(0)173-629-0825
unkel@berlinheart.de
SOURCE Berlin Heart GmbH