Chapter 1201: Boundless Wealth
The patient's parents finally gave up their illusions and accepted this reality. In fact, an artificial heart transplant sounds good, as long as it can save a life.
The condition itself changes rapidly, and sometimes its external conditions change rapidly as well. Doctors must be able to change their plans based on these changes in conditions. This is about analyzing specific situations specifically. If one always remains unchanged, it is no different from carving a boat to seek a sword.
"We agree!"
The patient's father agreed to this plan. Professor Yang had already said that this was the only plan, and there was no second option beyond it.
With the development of artificial hearts, they might be able to last twenty, thirty, or forty years in the future, making donor hearts seem less important.
The heart is like the body's "engine," rhythmically beating to pump blood throughout the body.
But when the heart's function seriously declines, its ability to pump blood drops significantly. This is called heart failure. In our country, there are over 10 million adult heart failure patients, which is quite a large number. Among them, end-stage heart failure patients have heart function that cannot be restored with medication or conventional surgery, have very poor quality of life, and face serious life threats.
In traditional treatments, heart transplant is the ultimate method for end-stage heart failure, but donor scarcity and high post-operative rejection risks mean many patients cannot wait for a suitable donor. In recent years, the emergence of artificial hearts has provided a new path to life for these patients.
Currently, our country has already produced the third generation of magnetic levitation hearts, and the technology is not behind, even superior in some aspects to international counterparts. Ruixing is currently also researching artificial hearts, but since they started relatively late, their products are still in the laboratory stage and not in mass production.
Better domestically produced artificial true hearts, like Corheart 6, are third-generation magnetic levitation artificial hearts and are currently the world's smallest and lightest artificial heart, weighing only 90 grams, roughly equivalent to the weight of an egg. Its core advantage lies in its use of magnetic levitation technology, allowing the pump body to "levitate" and function, avoiding friction from traditional mechanical bearings, and significantly reducing blood damage and the risk of thrombosis.
The Corheart 6 artificial heart is 40% smaller in volume than international mainstream products, making it very suitable for Asian body types and even offers treatment possibilities for pediatric patients.
Not only is its volume small, but it also has low power consumption, making it more convenient for patients to carry daily and extending its battery life.
The use of this plan has now been confirmed. Director Tian ordered the physician in charge to quickly prepare for surgery, and as for the artificial heart, the supplier manufacturer should be contacted immediately to prepare it.
Globally, the number of heart replacement surgeries is not actually so many. The number of heart transplant surgeries worldwide is about 5,000 cases a year, unlike kidney and liver transplants. The main reason is the shortage of donors, and the emergence of artificial hearts is expected to solve this problem.
If Yang Ping eventually conquers heart cloning technology, then this problem will be completely solved.
"This artificial heart is not without drawbacks. After the implantation of an artificial heart, complications such as drive line infections, gastrointestinal bleeding, thromboembolism, stroke, and right heart failure may occur. Moreover, it lacks the postoperative convenience of a donor heart. It requires carrying the power system at all times and cannot engage in water activities such as swimming."
"As for the price, it's now around 700,000 RMB, which is the domestic price. Imported ones are more expensive. In fact, there isn't much difference between domestic and imported ones at present. In some aspects, domestic ones are even more excellent."
Yang Ping briefly explained the drawbacks of the artificial heart to the patient's parents. They no longer care about these drawbacks; there are no other choices, and this is the only choice, so they don't care about the drawbacks.
In fact, in choosing between donor heart transplantation and artificial heart transplantation, young patients can consider sequential treatment, that is, implanting an artificial heart first and then a heart transplant to extend survival time. For critical patients without an immediate donor, an artificial heart should be considered.
Patients with fixed pulmonary hypertension, renal dysfunction, severe diabetes, or tumor complications are not suitable for an artificial heart. Patients with isolated right heart failure and simple diastolic dysfunction may be more suitable for heart transplantation.
Heart transplant and artificial heart both have their pros and cons, and the choice depends on the patient's age, illness, complications, and other individualized decisions.
"Shall we go see the patient? Have they come back?" Yang Ping asked.
The patient, An Chenfeng, had just been sent for tests and is now back. The physician in charge led the way in front, and Yang Ping went to the ward to see him, followed by a large group of graduate and doctoral students.
He was sitting in a wheelchair, not because he couldn't walk - his legs were perfectly fine - but his heart function was too poor. Any movement made him gasp, and even lying in bed to rest would cause heart failure symptoms. Heart failure was already very severe, and cardiac arrest could occur at any time, which is why the surgery was so urgent.
The doctor and nurse helped him stand up from the wheelchair and then helped him sit on the bed.
"Semi-Fowler's position then!" Yang Ping ordered the nurse.
However, An Chenfeng was familiar with this position himself because it was the most comfortable. Semi-Fowler's position can reduce the return of blood to the heart, lowering the heart's burden. This position makes heart failure patients feel a little more at ease and less uncomfortable.
Currently, various advanced instruments and equipment play a significant auxiliary role in diagnosis. The role of traditional physical examinations has been weakened, but some traditional physical examinations are still essential. They are the information that doctors collect directly from patients.