Bangalore , March 26, 2009: In India, about 20 million patients suffer from heart failure, a number that is increasing by two million annually. About 20% of these patients die each year without aid. The solution, heart transplantation, is limited by availability of donor hearts when there is still time for survival. But modern technology now has the best possible solution – the Left Ventricular Assist Device or the LVAD also referred to as the artificial heart.

Narayana Hrudayalaya is the first and only multi-specialty hospital in Asia that offers the LVAD procedure to all those who are suffering from chronic heart diseases like heart failure, Cardio Myopathy or any cardio-vascular disease. In the words of Dr. Devi Shetty, “A heart is just a pump. It is probably the only organ that can be reproduced mechanically.”

The left ventricle of the heart is a muscular chamber that pumps blood out to the body. The ‘LVAD’ is a battery-operated, mechanical pump-type device that is surgically implanted. It assists the failing left ventricle that can't effectively work on its own.

“The cost of an LVAD procedure amounts to Rs 45 lakh which includes Rs 35 lakh for the device and Rs 10 lakh as surgery expenses”, said Dr. Bagirath Raguram, Consultant Cardiologist, Narayana Hrudayalaya.
The LVAD, may be, the answer for end-stage heart disease patients who die waiting for a donor heart. There now appears to be a ray of hope for the heart patients, as the artificial heart is now available to help these patients live a good quality life with dignity, the way it was meant to be.

About LVAD

This device is sometimes called a "bridge to transplant”, however, research shows that LVADs have restored failing hearts in some patients with heart failure, completely eliminating the need for a transplant. According to an abstract presented at the American Heart Association's 2007 Scientific Sessions, LVAD’s reduced the risk of death in end-stage heart failure patients by 50 percent at six and 12 months and extended the average life span from 3.1 months to more than 10 months.

Though the procedure is expensive now, the doctors in Narayana Hrudayalaya believe that the cost of the procedure can be brought down to 17 lakh (all inclusive) by fostering an increase in volume. It may be interpreted as cost effective in the sense that it is a one-time expenditure and apart from daily dressing, charging of batteries and replacement of worn out batteries, there is no other expenditure to the patient.

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