A stunning medical development signals new hope for people with devastating heart conditions. Just look at what it did for 25-year-old Stan Larkin, who summed it up in one word: freedom.
Until recently, people in need of a heart transplant were fitted with artificial hearts that were hooked-up to bulky machines. That meant these patients were literally bedridden until a human heart became available. That wait lasted months, or years, during which time the patient's health usually deteriorated, in large part, because of their inability to move around.
Stan Larkin broke the mold. He needed a heart transplant. He was given an artificial heart, but not one that forced him to be stay in bed tethered to a big machine. Stan's artificial heart was connected to a tiny machine, weighing only 13 pounds, that he toted around in his backpack! That machine is called the SynCardia Freedom Portable Driver.
What's more, is he used the portable driver connected to his artificial heart for a year and a half, longer than anyone before. During that time, he lived life normally, even playing basketball!
Finally, a human heart became available for Stan, who underwent a transplant last month.
Listen to Stan and his doctors at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center just two weeks after the successful transplantation describe the ordeal. This case provides hope to the hundreds of thousands of people with advanced heart failure that they, like Stan, can live fairly normal lives with an artificial heart and a portable driver.