Heart patients get to feel the pulse again

Paget Milsom

A 56-year-old Auckland man with a failing heart has become the world's first recipient of a revolutionary heart pump developed by two New Zealand doctors.

The patient, who had been admitted to hospital six times in the past 18 months, was fitted with a CPulse device in a 2 1/2-hour operation at Auckland City Hospital last Wednesday.

The breakthrough technology offers hope of slashing the cost of heart therapy and can work for patients who cannot use pacemakers.

The doctors behind the device are hospital clinical research fellow William Peters and the hospital's head of cardiac surgery, Paget Milsom.

Dr Peters said: "We're excited about the CPulse as a long-term solution to reduce the heart's workload. It's simpler, safer, cheaper. It augments the heart function, not replace it, and you can turn it on and off.

"There is the potential for recovery so patients don't have to use it all the time. And that's really what is key about this device."

Dr Peters said CPulse could help heart failure patients greatly, as there were a small number of hearts available for transplant and only 30 per cent of patients were suitable for a pacemaker.

The CPulse device was also outside the bloodstream, reducing the risk of blood clots.

Dr Peters said the man was an ideal candidate for the CPulse.

The patient was recovering well and would be discharged next week.

"We've already seen improvement," said Dr Peters.

"In time, he will hopefully be doing everyday activities without straining his heart.

"The man has had moderate heart failure for 10 years.

"He had a very poor quality of life, an increased risk of mortality, and he would get short of breath just walking down a corridor."

Dr Peters said the operation was straightforward and cheaper than standard heart surgery.

"The implantation costs less than half of the cost of heart surgery, and the device itself will be about half the cost of current blood pumps."

He estimated the cost of the device at $40,000 to $50,000.

Heart surgery could cost up to $100,000.

The CPulse has taken five years to develop and is funded by Australian company Sunshine Heart, for which Dr Peters is medical director.

It comprises a balloon cuff that wraps around the patient's aorta. The balloon helps to pump blood through the body by inflating and deflating in time with the patient's heart beat.

Wires that are attached to the lower portion of the heart pick up electrical signals that control when the balloon inflates.

Dr Peters said that as the first patient in a clinical study, the man's progress would be monitored closely in the next few months.

Last week's successful recipient was the first of 10 patients in New Zealand and Australia destined to be implanted with a CPulse.

Dr Peters said the device could be widely available in the next three to four years.