The University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) has adopted CardiacAssist’s TandemHeart System. The company said that the FDA-cleared TandemHeart can be placed rapidly by both interventional cardiologists in a cath lab and by cardiac surgeons in an operating room, to provide short-term circulatory support to patients requiring additional cardiac assistance.
The company claims that the device provides effective and reliable temporary circulatory support for critically ill patients. Hemodynamic support includes a high net blood-flow rate of up to five liters per minute in the catheterisation lab or up to eight liters per minute in the OR (more than twice the amount of other available technologieS) and is fully reimbursed by Medicare under existing DRG codes.
Michael Garippa, president and CEO of CardiacAssist, said: “TandemHeart establishes a whole new paradigm for treating cardiac patients quickly and aggressively. Many hospitals such as the University of Colorado Hospital’s Cardiac & Vascular Center are becoming aware of the significant benefits of TandemHeart for their cardiac patients, which is why we believe more passionately than ever that TandemHeart is destined to become standard of care in extracorporeal circulatory support.”