In four years, an artificial heart ventricle for children will be used routinely, if clinical trials prove successful, said Jan Sarna, director general of the Foundation for the Development of Cardiac Surgery in Zabrze, on Thursday at a press conference in Warsaw.
An artificial ventricle that supports the heart’s work has been used for many years in adult patients for whom there is no other treatment option, said Dr. Grzegorz Religa, clinical consultant of the Foundation. It is used by people waiting for a transplant or those whose heart failure is temporary – for example, it is caused by inflammation of the heart muscle or postoperative complications. Thanks to the chamber, you can survive even a year or more – during this time you can find the right donor, and in some cases the relieved heart regenerates.
Over 200 people have already used artificial heart chambers in Poland. However, they were only adults – typical chambers are too large for a child, and besides, it is difficult to control them properly – explained director Sarna. In order to adapt the chamber for a child, it is not enough just to reduce its dimensions, it is necessary to solve a number of technical problems. It was possible thanks to specialists from several fields, such as materials science and welding.
Work began in 2008. The chamber, intended for school children (body weight from 20 to 40 kg), is made of polyurethane and coated with a special titanium coating. It is air driven, supplied by the control console – the same as that of the adult chamber. In 2010, the chamber was tested on a special laboratory stand, developed and launched in cooperation with the Austrian bioengineering institute from Vienna.
The studies assessed the risk of blood clots and finally confirmed the readiness of the structure for animal and clinical trials. The handcrafted prototype of the chamber will soon undergo final testing (including the use of pig blood).
This will then be followed by a series of clinical trial chambers, already manufactured using industrial methods (all must be identical). If the research is successful, an appropriate procedure will be developed and the implantation of an artificial ventricle will become a routine treatment of extreme heart failure in children, financed by the Ministry of Health or the National Health Fund.
Currently, the artificial ventricle is used by only a few centers in the world – American, Japanese, German and Polish. The only commercially available children’s chamber is the German chamber (costs around 30 euros). The Polish project is financed from the foundation’s own funds, from public fundraising and from donors.
As noted by the director of Sarna, the development of a Polish artificial heart ventricle for children would not be possible in the planned time without the systematic financial support of Jeronimo Martins Dystrybucja SA, the owner of the Biedronka chain of stores, which is a strategic partner of the With heart for heart campaign. This year, the company was honored by the Cardiac Surgery Development Foundation with the Heart for Heart statuette.
Paweł Wernicki (PAP)