Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Man Lives Normally Without A Heartbeat

A recent article found on CBS told a story of a man, named Michael LeBlanc, who managed to lived without a heartbeat. LeBlanc suffered from cardio-myopathy, but due to a new assistive device called an L-VAD he is now able to live normally.

"[It] is a pump that is placed in the patient's body and allows us to keep them alive until they can get a transplant," Dr Meyer said.

This newly redesigned L-VAD model is small enough that it can go anywhere with the patients giving them the mobility they need to maintain a normal life.

"The blood goes in and then gets propelled through a rooter, then through a graft that comes out and is attached to the aorta," Dr. Meyer explained.
With assistive devices such as the L-VAD, doctors are able to keep patients alive longer. This may lead to controversy over whether or not this is ethical to allow a human to function mechanically and run off a machine, rather than a regular beating heart. This is considered a great accomplishment though due to the fact that patients can now survive until they are able to receive a heart transplant.

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11 comments:

  1. mistermagetteDecember 7, 2009 at 1:47 PM

    Great post, Kaya. And definitely an interesting a promising technology! 25/25

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  2. Caleb Clayton-MolbyDecember 7, 2009 at 7:51 PM

    That is so cool! It's crazy what kind of technology there is being used today. I wonder if people that are using the L-VAD are scared that a replacement heart won't work, so they just live on that. How long would an L-VAD last?

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  3. A HadlDecember 7, 2009 at 9:35 PM

    Woah, I knew you could live without a heart for a little bit, but i though that was in surgery when they hook you up to a machine. I didn't know you could live normally without one!

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  4. Matthew SchultzDecember 7, 2009 at 10:36 PM

    What is up with the world today. A technology that can keep a man with no heartbeat alive? I wonder what is going to come next?

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  5. Emma KrugerDecember 9, 2009 at 5:49 PM

    That is amazing...I didn't think it could be possible.

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  6. KayaRDecember 9, 2009 at 7:31 PM

    Caleb, I read that the L-VAD could keep LeBlanc active for up to 10 years!

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  7. AnonymousDecember 10, 2009 at 2:52 PM

    so if people keep getting the L-VAD every ten years could it be possible that they could live their whole life without a heart.
    by: heimy chavez

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  8. ashl22December 11, 2009 at 12:54 PM

    That is amazing, I had no idea that the technology these days was so advanced that it could keep a man alive without a real heartbeat.

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  9. adamgraff2December 11, 2009 at 1:39 PM

    So is a L-VAD just another word for an artificial heart.

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  10. Tyler FowlerDecember 13, 2009 at 7:34 PM

    Dang! This is crazy. I didnt think that this was possible. I always thought that when the ticker (heart) was done beating you were done for...

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  11. Sara HoppeDecember 14, 2009 at 1:10 PM

    So its a machine that keeps you alive or a machine heart that keeps you alive for a short while?

    -Sara

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