FAIRFAX HOSPITAL OK'D TO USE NEW HEART PUMP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 16, 1993                   TAG: 9301160244
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Short
FAIRFAX HOSPITAL OK'D TO USE NEW HEART PUMP
Fairfax Hospital is one of three hospitals worldwide to get permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to implant a portable, battery-operated pump in patients with heart disease.
In clinical trials, the left-ventricular assist device, being marketed as HeartMate, has shown promising results in keeping patients alive while waiting for a human heart transplant.
Medical professionals believe the device can help cut the costs associated with a heart transplant substantially by decreasing the time patients must stay in hospital intensive-care units while awaiting an operation.
Fairfax will conduct tests for the FDA before the heart pump is approved elsewhere, said Quentin Macmanus, a researcher at the hospital.
There is a dire need for a stopgap solution for patients waiting for transplants, Macmanus said. - Associated Press

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB