Finland's first artificial heart transplant performed successfully

HELSINKI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Finland's first artificial heart transplant has been successfully conducted in Helsinki Meilahti Hospital last week, reported Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.

The patient was recovering in the hospital and was in a good condition, said the daily.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Karl Lemstrom, who led the surgery, said that the operation itself lasted for 3 to 4 hours, and the preparations took the whole day.

The patient was so seriously ill that he could not be treated with mechanical cardiac support device.

He had waited for a heart transplant in a heart-lung machine for three weeks. When a suitable allograft was not found during that time, the hospital decided to transplant an artificial heart to him.

The surgery is different from a real heart transplant, as the heart will be replaced by a plastic one, said Lemstrom.

The patient was moved from the heart-lung machine a few days after the operation. Now he was able to sit on the bed in the hospital.

The surgeon said their intension was that the patient can go home, and can walk, ride bicycle and do some light exercise with the help of a control unit outside the body, which regulates the function of the artificial heart.

According to Lemstrom, an artificial heart is only an intermediate step. When the patient has recovered, he will be transplanted a right heart. It needs three months to one year.

Finland started to use mechanical circulatory support devices in 1998. The Helsinki Meilahti Hospital has installed a total of 63 mechanical circulatory support devices.

According to Lemstrom, a total of 1,500 artificial heart transplants have been carried out worldwide so far.