A man in Michigan has become the first in the state to receive a new ‘miracle’ heart that was transplanted while still beating.
Ken Miller, 58, has spent more than a decade battling heart failure after suffering a heart attack in 2013.
The event forced him to retire from his 30-year job in the dairy industry, and doctors told him there was little they could do until he received a new heart.
Over the next few years, Mr Miller’s heart became so damaged that it grew to twice the normal size, and he went into kidney failure as well.
But on his 58th birthday, the father and grandfather learned he would be receiving a new heart and kidney, which he said gave him ‘a new lease on life.’
‘I think it’s simply a miracle,’ he said.
Mr Miller is one of just 70 Americans who has received a beating-heart transplant, an intervention aimed at solving the demand for more than 3,500 people in the US awaiting a heart transplant.
Normally, during a heart transplant, the organ is stopped, removed from the deceased donor, and transported on ice to the hospital.
However, these organs can only stay viable on ice for about four hours, meaning they can only travel so far to get to the recipient.
This limits the amount of organs available to people who need them.
But a ‘heart in a box,’ which is kept pumping during transport, stays viable for longer periods of time, allowing it to be transported further away and accessible to more patients.
Dr Kyle Miletic, a cardiac and transplant surgeon at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit who led the procedure, said in a press release: ‘The heart in a box is like a mini heart and lung machine that we use for traditional open-heart surgery. Surgeons stop the heart at the donor hospital and put it on this machine.’
‘The machine restarts the heart and gives it all the blood and nutrients it needs to stay healthy, so while it’s traveling to Henry Ford Hospital, the heart never loses its blood supply and never stops beating until you take it off the device.’
The heart stopped only once, when it was first removed from the donor, and was placed still beating into the chest of Mr Miller.
Stopping the heart only once can reduce recovery time, as well as the risk of future complications.
‘While this was more challenging than operating on a still, stopped heart, the heart was much stronger and more robust than we typically see after the traditional method,’ said Dr Miletic.
He added: ‘Stopping the heart a second time weakens it, increasing the chances that the heart will need machine support… after transplant which can lead to longer recovery times for the patient.
‘But if the heart only has to stop once, the muscle remains stronger and outcomes for the patient are better.’
Following the procedure in May, Mr Miller did not need any additional medical support and he – and his new heart – are recovering well.
It’s unclear how long the procedure took, but a traditional heart transplant lasts roughly six to 12 hours.
Because Mr Miller’s original heart had grown so large, Dr Miletic said the team had more space to operate, lowering the risk of complications.
‘It’s more challenging because you’re sewing in moving tissue, but this patient was exceptionally suited for this transplant method,’ Dr Miletic.
He added: ‘This was also his first surgery. When patients have previously undergone open-heart surgery, subsequent operations can be complicated due to the presence of scar tissue.
‘In this case, conditions were near perfect for us.’
The team said Mr Miller’s new organ traveled several hundred miles.
The first-ever beating-heart transplant was performed just last March by a team at Stanford University, which they called ‘revolutionary.’
Mr Miller is now looking forward to being able to enjoy the small things he has missed out on, including walking up stairs and taking his dog for a stroll.
He said: ‘I live comfortably with my rescue dog, Chip, and I’m excited to go home and relax and get back to normal – to see my children and grandchildren, to sit and play my guitar again.
‘I’m so grateful to these doctors to be able to say that. I knew I’d need a new heart one day. I never dreamed it would be this special.’
