ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Stan Larkin’s successful heart transplant came after living more than a year without a human heart and relying on a total artificial heart device he carried in a backpack for 17 months.
Stan Larkin, the first patient in Michigan ever discharged with a SynCardia temporary total artificial heart in 2014, returned to the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center last month for a heart transplant.
The surgery performed by Jonathan Haft, M.D., was a unique national triumph in efforts to replace the failing heart as heart disease grows and donor hearts remain scarce.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Larkin, 25, said at a news conference when he described living with the total artificial heart that was implanted to keep him alive until a donor heart became available.
“I got the transplant two weeks ago and I feel like I could take a jog as we speak. I want to thank the donor who gave themselves for me. I’d like to meet their family one day. Hopefully they’d want to meet me.”
Stan’s older brother Dominique also relied on a total artificial heart before a heart transplant in 2015. The brothers were diagnosed as teenagers with familial cardiomyopathy, a type of heart failure that can strike seemingly healthy people without warning.
It’s linked to a leading cause of sudden death among athletes called Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC).
“They were both very, very ill when we first met them in our intensive care units,” says Haft, associate professor of cardiac surgery. “We wanted to get them heart transplants, but we didn’t think we had enough time. There’s just something about their unique anatomic situation where other technology wasn’t going to work.”
The temporary total artificial heart is used when both sides of the heart fail, and more common heart-supporting devices are not adequate to keep patients alive.
Rather than stay in the hospital, Larkin used a wearable, 13.5 pound Freedom portable driver to keep the artificial heart going.
“He really thrived on the device,” Haft said looking at a photo of Stan on a basketball court. “This wasn’t made for pick-up basketball,” he joked.
“Stan pushed the envelope with this technology.”
As Haft teaches at the University of Michigan Medical School, the brothers have joined him to discuss the impact of advanced circulatory support for those with end-stage heart failure.
“You’re heroes to all of us,” says David J. Pinsky, M.D., a director of the U-M Frankel Cardiovascular Center. “The fact that you take your story public and allow us to teach others makes a difference. You’ll make a difference for a lot of patients. You’ll make a difference to the doctors of the future. We thank you for allowing us to share your story and your bravery in sharing it.”
University of Michigan Health System Brothers celebrate bridge to transplant