Press releases

Released August 9, 2001
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven Patient Lives the Longest on Heart Assist Device

For more information, call 203-688-2488 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio

The U.S. record for the person who has lived the longest on a continuous heart assist device now belongs to Darien, Conn., resident Robert "Pete" Kenyon.

The insurance specialist, who celebrated his 63rd birthday 13 days ago, was operated on by a cardiothoracic team from Yale-New Haven Hospital nearly three years ago, and is the U.S. barometer for longevity survival for this type of procedure, using a left ventricle assist system called Novacor^® LVAS.

The Yale-New Haven Hospital cardiothoracic surgical team was headed by Dr. John Elefteriades, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital. A recognized authority in interventions for the failing left ventricle, including coronary bypass and left ventricular aneurysmectomy, Dr. Elefteriades directs the Center of Thoracic Aortic Disease at Yale, one of the nation's largest facilities for treatment of the dilated thoracic aorta.

World Heart Corporation (WorldHeart), a global medical device company based in Ottawa, Canada, and Oakland, Calif., specializes in the development and commercialization of pulsate ventricular assist devices.

WorldHeart's Novacor^® LVAS is an electronically driven pump, approximately the size of an average human heart, which is implanted within the abdominal wall. It was invented by Dr. Peer Portner, consulting professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University and senior scientific advisor to WorldHeart. Dr. Portner is also past president, CEO and founder of Novacor Medical Corporation.

Dr. Portner established and led a team in the development of the Novacor^® Heart Assist System. The second-generation, electronically powered artificial heart system was designed for long-term circulatory support in patients with terminal heart failure. The current device has allowed recipients to leave the hospital and return to an essentially normal lifestyle. Novacor^® LVAS provides circulatory support by taking over most of the workload of the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber. Blood enters the pump through an inflow conduit connected to the left ventricle and is ejected through an outflow conduit into the body's arterial system. Monitored by an electronic controller and powered by primary and reserve battery packs, the LVAS is worn on a belt around the waist or carried in a shoulder bag. The system is completely self-regulating and responds instantaneously to the recipient's changing heartbeat and circulatory demands.

To date, more than 253 recipients of WorldHeart's Novacor^® LVAS have been supported by their device for more than six months; 94 recipients for over one year; 21 recipients for over two years; six recipients for over three years; and two for over four years.

"Dr. Portner, Dr. Forrester Lee and I are very pleased to see how well Mr. Kenyon has done in the three years since his surgery here at Yale-New Haven Heart Center when he was implanted with the Novacor LVAS," said Dr. Elefteriades. "The marvel of this technology has enabled Mr. Kenyon to return home, continue to work and live a very full life. It's with a great sense of pride that our surgical team from Yale-New Haven Heart Center celebrates this milestone with the Kenyon family, Dr. Portner and our partners at World Heart Corporation. This is truly a momentous occasion."

	(l.-r.) Dr. Peer Portner of WorldHeart, YNHH patient Robert "Pete" Kenyon and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. John Elefteriades at a press conference held August 9, 2001, to celebrate Kenyon's survival with a heart assist device while awaiting a heart transplant.
	Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. John Elefteriades demonstrates how Novacor LVAS is positioned in the patient's body.
	YNHH patient Robert Kenyon with the bag containing the external components that control and power his left ventricular assist system. To his right, Dr. John Elefteriades and Dr. Peer Portner.

Reporters: For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio. For more information about Novacor^® LVAS and WorldHeart, please contact Michelle Banning at (613) 226-4278, ext. 2995.

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