The heart of success - Artificial pump trial will be expanded globally
A YEAR after Australian doctors fitted the world's first artificial heart, the pioneering procedure is to be tested in Sydney.
Results of the ground-breaking implants have proved so successful after trials in Melbourne, doctors in Sydney hope to carry out the operation by the end of 2004.
Medical teams in Perth, Brisbane, Auckland and the UK also plan to try out the ingenious VentrAssist pump, which was designed by Sydney-based company Ventracor.
A deal is expected to be signed soon which would mean surgeons at St Vincents Hospital in Darlinghurst could carry out their own trials. A year ago, Max Hudson became the first person in the world to be fitted with the battery-powered device. He said the operation had greatly improved his quality of life.
Doctors who treated 74-year-old Mr Hudson -- who has a long history of heart failure -- said he wouldn't have survived if he hadn't been fitted with the pump last July.
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hudson said: "I have had heart problems for the past 12 years and things were not looking good.
"I wasn't keen on having the operation and I was pretty nervous about being the first person in the world to have this thing fitted.
"But I thought if it helped doctors understand more in years to come, then it was worth it.
"A year on and I feel much better than before. I can get about easier and spend more time with my wife Irene. Every extra day with her is fantastic."
Professor David Kaye, one of the doctors leading the trials at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, said he was delighted by the results and was excited the VentrAssist would be tested outside Australia.
He said: "This procedure is for people who have no other option. They don't qualify for transplants because they are over 65, which is the international age limit.
"Max Hudson would almost certainly be dead by now if he hadn't taken part in these trials. "I am very excited the trials are extending to places like Sydney. It can only help our research."
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