The Berlin Heart Pump

The FDA made an exception and permitted the use of the Berlin Heart pump, which is approved for use throughout Europe but not the United States, to keep 5-year-old Joseph Greenwood alive as he awaited a heart transplant.

This is a heart wrenching story that introduced me to the Berlin Heart pump.  It seems to be able to keep patients alive for up to several months while waiting for a transplant.  Sounds like a wonderful maching.

Tags: Berlin heart Pump, Heart Failure, CPR

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Berlin Pump sustains patient 234 days

5-year-old Jason Zhao from Vallejo, Calif., received the best Valentine's gift he could ask for—a healthy new heart. But Jason, whose own heart failed last June, wouldn't have lived long enough to accept the transplant without the assistance of a mechanical external pump known as the Berlin Heart. The device kept Jason alive for 234 days at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, longer than any other child in North America. Only three other children in the world have survived longer than that on the pump.

Tags: Berlin Pump

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Viral Diseas Destroys Heart of Mexican Boy-citizens of Texas React.

Residents of the Texas city raised about $500,000 for the boy, who suffers a viral infection that is eating away at his heart tissue. "In many children, it just gives you a common cold, but in certain settings, it will cause an inflammation of the heart ," said Dr. Elizabeth Frazier, head of the cardiac transplantation program at Arkansas Children's Hospital. "It permanently damages the heart muscle; it actually kills the heart muscle."

This international effort to provide care for one boy shows an aspect of the transformation of medicine over the last several decades. It also speaks about the role of human charity in medical care.

Tags: Viral heart disease, heart transplant

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PharmaLive: Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients

PharmaLive: Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients: "Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients


NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 26, 2007 - Study results show that elevated lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), a cardiovascular-specific inflammatory enzyme associated with unstable plaque that can lead to heart attack and stroke, is especially predictive of heart disease risk in patients with the metabolic syndrome--a serious medical condition that affects nearly 50 million Americans. The results, which were presented yesterday at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific session, confirm previous findings demonstrating the association between elevated Lp-PLA2 and coronary heart disease. "

United Press International - Health Business - Prostate therapy may up heart disease

United Press International - Health Business - Prostate therapy may up heart disease: "Androgen deprivation therapy, commonly used to treat prostate cancer, may increase mortality from heart disease in men over 65, say Boston researchers."

Newswise | Fruit Flies May Pave Way to New Treatments for Age-related Heart Disease

Newswise Fruit Flies May Pave Way to New Treatments for Age-related Heart Disease: "The tiny Drosophila fruit fly may pave the way to new methods for studying and finding treatments for heart disease, the leading cause of death in industrialized countries, according to a collaborative study by the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, UC San Diego (UCSD) and the University of Michigan.
The study reports that mutations in a molecular channel found in heart muscle cell membranes caused arrhythmias similar to those that are found in humans, suggesting that understanding how this channel’s activity is controlled in the cell could lead to new heart disease treatments. "

The involved methods described in this report are amazing. We can watch a fly's heart functionning. From that, we can see how genetic changes in the human heart can affect heat disease.

icWales - Pills before ills in heart disease fight

icWales - Pills before ills in heart disease fight: "The Welsh Assembly Government is considering advising men and women to take cholesterol-lowering statins in the latest bid to combat Britain's biggest killer, which claims 12,000 lives in Wales every year."

This continues the trend in the British Isles of wide spread statin usage to prevent CHD. It will be interesting to monitor the results in a few years.