A medical team from the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) has successfully performed the first ‘artificial heart’ implant in Lebanon, saving the life of a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

Led by two AUBMC doctors, the six-hour operation to implant a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) took place on 28 August.

The LVAD takes over the functions of the left ventricle of the heart.

“90% of all cardiac failures are the result of left ventricular failure,” said Dr Hadi Skouri, the AUBMC cardiologist who had been treating the patient and a specialist on heart failure and transplantation.

“The operation was a huge success as it was this patient’s last chance at life,” said Dr Pierre Sfeir, the AUBMC surgeon who conducted the operation.

The two AUB doctors were assisted by a multidisciplinary medical team, including the leading expert on LVAD operations, Dr Latif Arusoglu, a German surgeon, as well as a clinical specialist, both dispatched by Thoratec, the company that manufactured the Heartmate II LVAD used in the operation.

LVAD’s are normally used as a bridge to heart transplantation, however, in the past five years a new generation of LVAD’s has enabled them to be used as a ‘destination therapy’ when patients are not candidates for a heart transplant.

“The aim of implanting such devices is to preserve life, restore blood circulation and provide optimal blood supply to all vital organs and thus normalising organ function,” explained Dr Skouri.

Of course, not all patients are eligible for this ultraexpensive and complicated surgery, noted the doctors. “If the patient suffers from other serious chronic diseases, we cannot operate on him/her,” said Dr Sfeir, who also heads the division of cardio-thoracic surgery at AUBMC.

Dr Samir Alam, who heads the cardiology division, pointed out that LVADs are a “last-resort treatment”.