First American Implant - First American Implant -- First Third...

First American Implant - First American Implant -- First Third First Generation Heart AssistDevice
Trialled in the USA.
Sydney, 18 July 2005: Ventracor Limited (ASX: VCR) announced today the first implant in the
United States of the VentrAssist? Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS).
The procedure was performed by a team led by Professor Bartley P. Griffith, M.D. at the
University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. The first US implant of the VentrAssist
is part of an FDA-approved feasibility study in 10 patients at up to five hospitals across the
United States. The trial is managed in part by the International Center for Health Outcomes and
Innovation Research (InCHOIR).
Dr. Griffith said: ?We are very pleased to participate in the clinical trial of the VentrAssist,
and hope that this new technology will be shown to provide new hope for the thousands of people
suffering from end stage heart failure.?
Ventracor Limited Chief Executive Officer, Colin Sutton PhD, said: ?With each implant, we are
adding to the body of clinical evidence and experience. The first VentrAssist implant in the
United States was only possible due to the tireless work and dedication of a worldwide team of
people in Australia, US and Europe." Dr Sutton noted that to date nearly 30 patients had been
implanted with the VentrAssist globally.
Dr. Griffith - is Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery and Director of Heart and Lung
Transplantation in the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center and is
a Professor of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Prior to his arrival at
the University of Maryland, Dr. Griffith served as Vice Chair, Department of Surgery at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he was also Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery
and the Henry T. Bahnson Professor of Surgery.
Congestive Heart Failure - in the United States, congestive heart failure (CHF) affects about
five million people, or two percent of the population. There are an estimated 550,000 new cases
diagnosed each year, and around 45,000 deaths from CHF.
Ventracor - is a global medical device company that has developed a blood pump, the
VentrAssist? left ventricular assist system (LVAS) for patients in cardiac failure. The company
hopes to bring the VentrAssist? to the global market in record time, and expects to obtain a
significant share of the huge potential market