PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CardiacAssist, Inc. has announced the completion of the 1,500th worldwide procedure utilizing the TandemHeart System. This is indicative of TandemHeart’s increasing acceptance and use by cardiologists and surgeons. The TandemHeart is unique in helping heart failure patients survive both heart attacks and high risk procedures, while providing versatility to physicians in choosing the time, place and type of treatments. Over 800 procedures have been performed in the last 24 months alone. A case performed recently at Texas Heart Institute pushed CardiacAssist over the 1,500 case mark. As the most frequent user of the TandemHeart, the commitment of the Texas Heart Institute physicians to providing cutting edge critical care to their cardiac patients is evident. “The dedication and pursuit of excellence shown by TandemHeart users has been the key to our growth,” says Michael Garippa, CEO/President of CardiacAssist. “We appreciate the tenacity and innovativeness our sites have shown in saving lives and have catapulted us to outstanding clinical and financial success.” Multiple patients were also treated within several days of the 1500th case. Piedmont Medical Center in Atlanta utilized the TandemHeart as an RVAD when a patient went into RV failure while on an Impella 2.5 device. Other recent cases include a patient at the University of Chicago who was suffering from bi-ventricular failure after their transplanted donor heart began to fail. Two TandemHearts were used in a BIVAD configuration to support the patient. LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City performed a high risk VT ablation on a 90 year old patient with TandemHeart support. The patient had over 240 ablation sites which were treated during the case. Using the TandemHeart to support high risk VT ablation patients is a fast growing indication of use. In each situation the TandemHeart was selected for its high net flow rate of up to 5 lpm in the Cath Lab or up to 8 lpm in the OR as well as its flexibility and rapid deployment potential. There are a variety of FDA cleared devices that provide extracorporeal circulatory support, but all others offer less than half the net flow and hemodynamic support of the TandemHeart. The TandemHeart is the only 5 lpm net flow, percutaneous “extracorporeal circulatory support” device approved by the FDA for sale in the U.S. Other devices including Impella 2.5 are labeled by the FDA to be used for “partial circulatory support” with less than 2.5 lpm net flow. The TandemHeart is fully reimbursed by Medicare under existing DRG codes. The device can be placed rapidly in the cath lab or operating room, providing effective, reliable, temporary circulatory support for critically ill patients. To date, the TandemHeart has been used in 29 countries by 130 different facilities by 320 different physicians.
