Surgeons at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine have a new device for those patients in end stage heart failure.

The HeartMate II is a next generation heart assist device designed to provide long-term cardiac support for patients in need of a heart transplant. The device is a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and is surgically attached to the heart''s left ventricle. The device then sits over the abdomen inside the skin and assists with heart function as the patient then waits for a new heart via transplant.

Surgeons have been using such devices for close to a decade, but the HeartMate II differentiates itself from its two predecessors, HeartMate I and Novacor.

Those devices make loud clicking sounds as they pump oxygen-rich blood through the body and cannot be used in patients of small stature as the devices are a bit large. The HeartMate II is noiseless, much smaller at about the size of a finger, uses a rotary pumping mechanism to move blood through the body and is thought to be more durable.

"This is the future," says Nader Moazami, MD, surgical director of heart transplant at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. "It''s another step toward using devices to eliminate the need for heart transplant."

In the U.S., more than 3,500 people annually are on the heart transplant waiting list and there are simply not enough organs available to meet that type of demand.  According to Dr. Moazami, a fully implantable device could revolutionize heart care.

"This is a significant advancement in technology in supporting patients with end stage heart failure," says Dr. Moazami.

The new device was implanted in a 31-year old suffering from end stage heart failure for the first time at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in June.  He received the device as part of a clinical trial at Washington University School of Medicine.