The patient was 23-year-old Nof Sadeh, who suffered a severe heart failure that endangered his life. The two-chamber artificial heart transplant was successful and Nof quickly recovered from the operation after which he was discharged.
The new HeartMate 3- two-chamber artificial heart, manufactured by the American company St. Jude Medical, implanted in the patient’s chest, includes two tiny pumps attached to each of the two failing heart chambers, acting in their stead. Each pump is powered by a rechargeable battery pack that is replaced once a day.
Transplantation of the two-chamber heart allows the patient to be discharged to his home, to return to routine activity, and wait for the day when he will receive a heart donation for the transplant.
Most patients with terminal heart failure suffer from the failure of the left ventricle of the heart alone and therefore, if necessary, a single auxiliary device is implanted into the failing room. A small portion of the patients suffer from the failure of the two ventricles of the heart – the left and the right – and those patients require a two-chamber heart transplant to save their lives.
The two-chamber artificial heart transplant was performed by Prof. Jacob Lavee, Director of the Heart Transplantation Unit, and Dr. Yigal Kassif, and the anesthesia was provided by Dr. Sergey Preisman, Head of the Cardiac Surgery Anesthesia Unit.
