N Haidu reporter Chen Yanyan
Five years ago, a 43-year-old Jiangxi man, Lao Zhang, suffered from heart disease, could not lie down, could not sit, and his heart could stop beating at any time. Every day, he lived in fear of sudden death.
Recently, Lao Zhang did not quit the road and rushed to Fuzhou to seek medical treatment. At Fujian Union Medical College Hospital, Professor Chen Liangwan, secretary of the Party Committee, led the cardiac surgery team to implant a "rocket heart" for Lao Zhang for free. This is the first case of pure domestic "rocket heart" in Fujian Province - HeartCon implantable magnetic suspension ventricular auxiliary device implantation surgery.
With it, Lao Zhang has two hearts, and in the future, he can live like "Iron Man" with a "mechanical heart".
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > suffered for five years He used the "rocket heart" to continue his life</h1>
Lao Zhang is still in the intensive care unit, but he is very happy. It turned out that 5 years ago, Lao Zhang often had night sweats, asthma, and fatigue, and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. After the onset of the disease, he took a lot of medicine, but the condition continued to deteriorate, nearly a year, his heart failure has reached the end, often chest tightness, breath holding, difficulty breathing at night, unable to lie flat, can only do some light physical work.
After the operation, Lao Zhang praised the doctors
Changing hearts is the only way to live, for nearly a year, Lao Zhang is waiting for a change of heart, but he has not waited for the right heart. Doctors suggested he change to a stronger artificial heart.
Lao Zhang heard that the Department of Cardiac Surgery of Fujian Union Hospital is the Fujian Provincial Heart Medical Center, and it is also one of the first three hospitals in the country to master the technology of artificial heart implantation, and is recruiting patients with terminal heart failure, who meet the conditions and can implant "mechanical heart" for free.
"Can't wait any longer!" At the end of March, Lao Zhang, with his last expectations, found Fujian Union Hospital.
"Rocket Heart" surgical implantation
On April 1, Professor Chen Liangwan and Professor Dai Xiaofu of The Department of Cardiac Surgery and Professor Liu Xiaocheng, president of Tianjin Taixin Hospital, worked on the same stage to install a "rocket heart" for Lao Zhang, next to his own heart. The "mechanical heart" is pumped through an artificial heart pump to drain the blood flow from the ventricles, and then pumps into the body circulation of the human body, re-establishing a circulatory system and allowing his "scrapped" left ventricle to rest. The right ventricle also operates in balance with the original system, the two circulatory systems. The next day, Lao Zhang can eat and talk, and after three days, he can get out of bed and do rehabilitation training.
The shell of the "mechanical core" is a specially treated titanium alloy, which has the advantages of high specific strength and high corrosion resistance. If the "care" is good, the service life of this "life-saving heart" can reach more than 10 years or even longer.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "Rocket Heart" made in China is lighter and more practical</h1>
In fact, before coming to Fuzhou, Lao Zhang heard that in the past two years, Fujian Union Hospital had transplanted two cases of imported "Yongrenxin" artificial heart, and the patients recovered well.
In 2019, 37-year-old Longyan man A Liang (pseudonym) installed a "Yongren Heart" artificial heart, and more than a year later, Ah Liang can climb seven floors in one breath, play badminton, and walk. In March last year, doctors found that Ah Liang's heart had returned to normal size and its function had gradually recovered. In the future, Ah Liang is expected to remove the "mechanical heart" and restore his heart to use.
On June 19, 2019, this newspaper reported on Ah Liang's story
On June 18, 2020, this newspaper tracked and reported on Ah Liang's progress
Professor Chen Liangwan pointed out that the main role of artificial heart is three: one is to wait for the transition of heart transplantation to win more time for patients; the second is to provide short-term alternative support for patients with acute heart failure, until the heart rests well, and the function is restored after withdrawal; the third is to provide long-term replacement for patients with end-stage heart failure and support patients to carry artificial heart for long-term survival.
He pointed out that previously, only developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan had mature artificial heart transplantation technology, and those who wore artificial hearts survived for the longest time to be 15 years. However, the cost of artificial heart produced abroad is 1.2 million to 1.3 million yuan, and there is no similar marketed product in China, due to the extreme lack of heart donors, most Chinese patients can only die while waiting.
When the "mechanical core" is in operation, the power supply must be connected via an external controller
The "Yongren Heart" used by Ah Liang is assembled in China, but the originals mostly rely on imports, today, the "Rocket Heart" is purely domestic, after ten years of dedicated research, with domestic original independent intellectual property rights, in technology has reached the international advanced level, the price is much lower than the imported "mechanical heart", and the operation is simplified. "Rocket Heart" also has many advantages: its in vivo component blood pump is only 190 grams, the in vitro controller is only 340 grams, the battery is only 590 grams, when the patient goes out, two batteries can be put into the bag, backed on both sides of the armpit, while using the controller belt bag, the controller is fixed at the waist, more convenient to carry.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > nearly 40% of patients die of heart failure</h1>
The heart is the center of life, and once it fails life will also terminate. According to the "China Cardiovascular Disease Report 2019", the death rate due to cardiovascular disease ranks first among the total causes of death of urban and rural residents, and heart failure is a heart disease with a rapid growth trend, according to incomplete statistics, there are about 16 million heart failure patients in China.
Professor Dai Xiaofu said that heart failure is the end-stage manifestation of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, and the 5-year survival rate is only 50%. Since 2015, after Chinese citizens voluntarily donated to become the only legal source of organ transplantation, the source of heart has been in short supply, with no more than 400 heart transplants per year in China and more than 100,000 patients in need of transplantation. Although the efficacy of heart transplantation is good, the heart donor is seriously lacking, far from meeting the needs of patients.
This time, the successful implantation of "Rocket Heart" is not only a new challenge for the Cardiac Surgery Department of Fujian Union Hospital, but also a new technological breakthrough, marking the treatment of terminal heart failure entering a new stage, marking the level of cardiac surgery of Fujian Union Hospital to a new height.
With the "mechanical heart", patients no longer have to wait for the supply of heart, no longer have to eat anti-rejection drugs, saving a lot of money and avoiding the side effects of drugs. In the future, if the domestic artificial heart is successfully clinically tested and mass-produced through approval and listing, it will greatly reduce costs and benefit more patients.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > established a multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of heart failure ward</h1>
In China, Fujian Union Medical College Hospital was one of the first to start doing heart transplantation, and the heart transplantation technology went from scratch to the leading position in the country. At present, about 80% of the heart surgery in the province and about 90% of the difficult cases are treated in the hospital. In the past 20 years, Fujian Union Medical College Hospital has also helped 39 hospitals in 18 provinces to carry out heart transplant surgery, spreading the "Fujian experience" to all places.
Mao Jishui (left), the first heart-changer in Fujian, has changed his heart twice, and is the longest surviving heart-changer in the country
Li Qianzhen, director of the heart failure ward of Fujian Union Medical College Hospital, introduced that in January last year, the hospital combined with many departments such as extracardiac, intracardiac, emergency, cadre ward, rehabilitation, nutrition and human organ acquisition tissue (OPO) to establish the heart failure ward of Fujian Heart Medical Center, which currently has 20 beds and can provide refined diagnosis and treatment for all stages of heart failure. So far, more than 400 cases of heart transplantation have been completed, more than 100 patients with heart failure have been treated, and the symptoms have improved significantly by more than 90%.
He introduced that at present, Fujian Union Hospital is the only one in Fujian and one of the 11 centers in the country to carry out "clinical trials of implantable magnetic suspension ventricular auxiliary devices for the treatment of the safety and efficacy of end-stage heart failure", and is recruiting patients with end-stage heart failure to participate in the clinical trial of "rocket heart".