First-ever artificial heart successfully fitted in Spain
Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 1:41 PM
A HOSPITAL in Valencia is the first in Spain to implant an artificial heart in a patient, and say he has now been discharged and is doing well.
Oddly, although he is alive and well, the patient has no pulse and never will again.
Vicente Sorribes, 51, was told by his consultant at La Fe Hospital's cardiology department that a transplant would not help him and that the only chance of saving his life would be to fit a 'mechanical heart'.
Before the five-hour operation, a pioneering procedure in Spain, Vicente was unable to walk, let alone climb stairs, and said he could not eat or lie down.
He was suffering from a rare congenital heart condition and, in his own words, was 'on death row with no hope of a reprieve'.
“The future was a short one, and a very bad one,” confesses Vicente, who says he is 'thrilled' with the result.
Dr José Anastasio Montero, the surgeon who led up the operating theatre team, said the artificial heart was the 'most advanced model' currently available and the last hope for Vicente.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com