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| Vol. 21, No. 23 |
| December 15, 1999 |
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Clinical Study Participant Celebrates Year Anniversary on Heart Pump by MAUREEN KOVACIK Texas Heart Institute Loletta Poe, who is part of a clinical study at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, recently celebrated her one-year anniversary using the HeartMate® Vented Electric Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD).
A native of Louisiana, Poe had already been admitted to her local hospital eight times when she was told by her doctors that there was nothing they could do to help her with her end-stage congestive heart failure. At 42, she was unwilling to accept such a prognosis. "I had a new granddaughter I really wanted to spend time with, and get to know," says Poe. She was then referred to the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital to determine if she would qualify for a heart transplant. Certain health factors, however, made her ineligible for the list. "Approximately 75,000 to 100,000 people die prematurely each year that could benefit from a heart transplant," says Dr. O.H. Frazier, chief of cardiopulmonary transplantation, co-director of the Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratory and director of surgical research at the Institute. "Even if there were enough donor organs for these people, many of them are not transplant candidates for other medical reasons." Poe was then approached by researchers at the Institute to participate in a clinical study that compares optimum medical management with the use of a mechanical heart-assist device for long-term treatment of congestive heart failure. A key qualification for patients to participate in this study is that they must have been told they are not eligible for a heart transplant. Therefore, the study will help determine if assist devices, such as the HeartMate®, are effective for permanent use. Such a finding will be extremely important in light of the shortage of donor hearts. As many as 50,000 people could benefit from a heart transplant each year in the U.S. alone, while, at best, only 2,000 donor hearts become available. Right now, the device is approved by the FDA for use only as a bridge to transplant. Poe is an energetic person who feels the device has given her a second chance at life. "Before I had this pump, I couldn't even comb my hair or brush my teeth," she says. "Now I have plenty of energy, and I have gone back to being a mother, wife and grandmother." "Mrs. Poe is responding well to the use of her pump," says Dr. James T. Willerson, Poe's cardiologist at the Institute. "She is gradually increasing her activity level and will soon include biking in her exercise routine." Living with the pump took a little getting used to, but Poe says that now the soft clicks and swishes are "music to her ears." Poe has gone home to Louisiana, and she comes back to Houston for a check-up once a month. She says she hopes her experience will help save other lives in the future.
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