Australian Man Survives a Record 105 Days with Artificial Titanium Heart While Awaiting Donor

An Australian man with severe heart failure lived for a record 105 days with a metal heart while he waited for a donor heart to become available.

He’s the first person in the world to be discharged from the hospital with the titanium device, living at home for about a month before receiving his donor heart.

The transplant took place on November 22, 2024, during a six-hour procedure at St. Vincent Hospital Sydney, according to a statement from Monash University. The transplant was part of the hospital’s Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, which designs and tests new devices like pumps as well as the BiVACOR’s Total Artificial Heart (TAH) — which this patient received.

The man, who declined to be identified, is in his early 40s and from New South Wales, Australia. He was well enough to be discharged from the hospital in early February with his artificial titanium heart and received his donor heart on March 6. Now he is “recovering well,” according to the Monash University statement.

The successful procedure “ushers in a whole new ball game for heart transplants,” Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St. Vincent Hospital, said. “Within the next decade, we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available.”

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The titanium device has a small external controller with rechargeable batteries, according to manufacturer BiVACOR, which says it’s “designed to be a long-term device that can replace the total function of the patient’s native heart.”

The first implantation of the metal heart took place at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Texas Medical Center last July. Four more implants have taken place in the U.S., but this case marks the longest someone has lived with the heart while awaiting a donor.

“The long-term ambition is for implant recipients to be able to live with their device,” the statement says, “without needing a heart transplant.”