Provides physicians with the capacity to implant Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and a weak left ventricular wall.

Heart failure is a major health problem in the U.S. with hundreds of thousands of cases diagnosed each year. Of the approximately 16,500 individuals with end stage heart failure who require a heart transplant only 2,000 donor hearts are available annually. Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) are implantable devices developed to support weak or failing hearts by attaching to the heart and assisting it in pumping blood throughout the body until a donor heart becomes available. However, when implanting VADs the ventricular apex needs to be intact so that it may support the LVAD.  Unfortunately, implantation is difficult and sometimes impossible in many patients due to concomitant weak, diseased, or calcified left ventricular apices.

Dr. Joseph Woo, while at the University of Pennsylvania, developed a sleeve adapter able to connect a VAD to a damaged or diseased ventricle.  The sleeve enables patients with poor ventricular apices and congestive heart failure (CHF) to be successfully implanted with a VAD device prolonging their life until heart transplant.  The sleeve adaptor is made of biocompatible materials and attached circumferentially to healthy ventricular wall to support the VAD in-flow cannula.  Dr. Woo has successfully implanted the sleeve into a patient following excision of the ventricular apex and thorough debridement of the thrombus from the LV cavity.  The patient had an uneventful post-operative recovery and was discharged to rehab without incident.

• Ability to implant VADs in non-traditional candidates
• Prolongation of time to heart transplant in patients with diseased hearts