Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Girl's heart regenerates thanks to artificial assist

Cool news from the Canadian Broadcasting Company today (CBC) today:

A 15-year-old girl has become the first Canadian to have an artificial heart removed after her own heart healed itself.

Melissa Mills arrived at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital last year after a sudden illness made her critically ill and a candidate for a heart transplant.

Doctors at the hospital implanted the Berlin Heart, a portable mechanical device that keeps blood pumping in an ailing heart, so she could survive until a transplant became available.

But over the next few months, Melissa's overall condition improved dramatically, and her heart muscle regained much of its strength. After 146 days on the Berlin Heart, Melissa underwent surgery to have the device removed.

Full article access here.


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