A patient in Australia became the first person in the world to be discharged from a hospital with a durable artificial heart. Doctors implanted the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart — a titanium mechanical pump — in a man suffering from severe heart failure. The device was intended as a temporary solution while he waited for a human donor heart, but BiVACOR is designed to eventually serve as a permanent replacement for a failing heart. The patient lived with the artificial heart for more than 100 days before a donor heart became available. Surgeons hope this advancement could reduce the need for human heart donors in the future.
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