World’s first patient receives new-look heart pump—cardiologist ‘impressed’ by device’s performance
A heart team in Australia has made history, completing the world’s first implantation of a new type of left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
The device in question was developed by CorWave, a French medtech company founded in 2012. It uses an advanced wave membrane technology that works in harmony with the patient’s heart, adjusting blood flow when necessary.
According to CorWave, this new approach offers multiple benefits over traditional heart pump technology, which delivers a continuous and fixed flow rate. It helps reduce the risk of serious complications, for example, and should improve the patient’s quality of life by allowing them to resume more day-to-day tasks.
The first implantation of CorWave’s LVAD was performed as part of an ongoing clinical trial at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on a patient who presented with advanced heart failure. That patient has since been discharged and is recovering at home with a significantly improved quality of life. The teams at St. Vincent’s Hospital and CorWave are keeping a close eye on the patient’s recovery; he has already reached the early endpoint of 30-day survival without device-related complications.
“The entire medical team is impressed by the CorWave device's performance,” Christopher Hayward, MBBS, MD, BMedSc, a cardiologist with St. Vincent’s Hospital and principal investigator of the ongoing clinical trial, said in a statement. “We’re very happy with the patient's post-operative recovery. The results we’re seeing are very encouraging for the future.”
“The surgical procedure is very similar to the implantation of the current generation of LVADs,” added Paul Jansz, BMed, PhD, a cardiothoracic surgeon involved with the procedure. “However, unlike the latter, this new generation system allows for the preservation of the natural pulse, which is potentially a game-changer. We could be opening up a new era of circulatory support.”
The HeartMate 3 device from Abbott is the only LVAD approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be commercially used in the United States. This first successful implantation represents a key step forward for CorWave as it works toward eventually gaining FDA approval for its own technology.
“We owe this moment to the trust of the patient, the excellence of the team at St. Vincent’s, the perseverance of our team, investors and partners who have backed CorWave’s vision over the years,” Louis de Lillers, CorWave CEO, said in the same statement. “We look forward to writing a new chapter in circulatory support alongside the scientific and medical community, with the shared goal of significantly improving the lives of advanced heart failure patients.”
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.