IOWA CITY – A new artificial heart device will allow patients of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to await a heart transplant at home.

An x-ray of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart (courtesy syncardia.com)

The Iowa City hospital could start using the new SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart by the end of the year, said Dr. James Davis, division director of cardiac services.

Until now, patients who needed a “bridge” of total heart support while awaiting a transplant had to stay hospitalized, with waits of six months or even longer, he said.

At least four patients in the past three years at the hospital had to wait that long, with stays costing about $5,000 per day, Davis said.

Those patients used a ventricular assistive device – a large external machine – hooked up through tubes to keep their hearts pumping.

With the new system, the patient’s own heart is removed and replaced with the SynCardia artificial heart.

Davis said the biggest difference is a new “Freedom Driver,”  a small portable device that pumps the heart.

“The great thing about this new driver is it gives them the opportunity to go home with their new (artificial heart,)” he said.

The new system makes both medical and financial sense, he noted.

Each device, which is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, costs $120,000 and is covered by insurance. The new driver is the part of the system that is under study.

Last year, 18 heart transplants were performed at the hospital, according to SynCardia, with a 100 percent one-year survival rate. The hospital’s median waiting time for a heart transplant is about nine months.

Just 13 hospitals are certified to use the system in the United States, with the UI hospital one of nine undergoing certification.

Davis estimated the device could benefit three to six patients annually at the hospital.

“We want them more or less living life while they’re waiting,” he said.