[ad_1]
HOUSTON – A four-year-old Texas girl has become the first child in the United States – and the second in the world – to receive an implant that will give her a beating heart, KHOU reported.
>> Read more new trends
Kateyln Hickman received the Jarvik ventricular badist device 2015 specifically designed for children under 4 years with heart failure, reported the TV channel.
"The only real therapy we have for a patient like her is to have a transplant, but we need to be able to drive her safely," said Jeff Dreyer, medical director of heart failure, cardiomyopathy and heart transplants at Texas Children's Hospital KHOU.
The implant, which uses an AA battery, pumps the oxygenated blood from the heart. Iki Adachi, who also works at the Texas Children's Hospital, described the results of the implant as "so dramatic".
"These patients are really sick before an operation," Adachi told KHOU. "I was particularly happy because the family was very happy to see their children cope very well."
© 2019 Cox Media Group.
[ad_2]
Source link
