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What's New?
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Medical Milestones in Michigan
The Kantrowitz CardioVad™ is the only heart-assist device that can be turned on
and off to reach human trials. Designed for patients in chronic congestive heart failure,
the CardioVad boosts the patient's own heart, taking over about 50% of the heart's
function while retaining all of the heart's pre-surgical pumping capacity.
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Now in its
initial clinical trial, the device has demonstrated that a patient in advanced chronic
congestive heart failure can have a near-normal quality of life: live independently,
drive, enjoy visits with family and friends.
This device builds on the 30-year clinical
use of the intraaortic balloon pump, first developed and used clinically by Michigan
Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz and his colleagues. Both the CardioVad for long term use by the
patient at home and the intraaortic balloon pump for treating patients in acute cardiac
failure in the hospital, followed years of investigation in animals. Neither device could
have been brought to human use without these animal studies. The
intraaortic balloon pump is credited with saving more than 100,000 lives a year.
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MISMR members strongly support humane animal study in research. We hope that likeminded citizens will join us in working for rational public policy that assures the continued appropriate use of animals in the course of good science. |