San Francisco-based UCSF Health has performed its first heart transplant for a patient who received an artificial heart months earlier.
The 37-year-old patient came to the system in August with advanced heart failure, according to a Feb. 11 system news release. He received a total artificial heart a few weeks later and was discharged in September. He lived with the artificial heart until December, when we underwent an eight-hour procedure to receive a heart transplant.
To date, UCSF has implanted four total artificial hearts. They are designed for patients with end-stage heart failure and serve as a bridge to keep patients alive until a transplant can be performed.
UCSF plans to open a clinical trial involving the device, the release said.
