sydney6791
The key point here is that as soon as the patient gets a heart transplant, they are taken off the list, so they no longer count towards the statistics. Similarly, if they survive to 180 days (in the current trial), with a pump, they are counted as being "a survivor", even though they may go for another year or two with the pump implanted. This is the basis for the DT trial.
When they are listed UNOS 1A or 1B, this does not mean they die! When comparing stats between companies, it's very important to get the basis of the stats on a comparable footing, otherwise you're comparing apples with oranges.
VCR's device does somewhat better than the Thoratec device, even before the recent problems with Thoratec. Similarly, the HTW device has done slightly better (but only slightly) better than VCR's device in the most recent trial. However the HTW trial has so far only had very low numbers of participants, so this could change.
Finally - survival for 180 days is actually pretty impressive for these patients, who are on the verge of keeling over due to heart failure. These are NOT well people!
Whichever way you look at it, VCR's device is no worse than anybody else's, and quite possibly (probably?) it's significantly better.
VCR
ventracor limited
