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Published: Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 / Updated: Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010 03:41 PM

Device pumps new life into heart patient waiting for transplant

CHARLOTTE -- 

On 9-11, New York City police officer German Saldarriaga wanted to help fellow officers as they worked through the chaos.

But Saldarriaga, who now lives in Fort Mill, was confined to desk duty by a life-threatening illness, so he helped lock down the station and answer phone calls.

For Steven Puth, 21, crossing a 100-yard parking lot to his job was once no big deal. But an illness zapped Puth's energy as the newly married Rock Hill man awaited the birth of his daughter.

Saldarriaga, 40, and Puth both faced possible heart failure. Now, both have a second chance, thanks to a heart pump that is about the size of a fist.

“We implant a mechanical pump into the patient,” said Dr. Sanjeev K. Gulati, a heart failure and transplantation cardiologist with Sanger Clinic of Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte. “One end connects to the heart, and the other end connects to the aorta.”

The pump, similar to one former Vice President Dick Cheney received earlier this month, “takes over a vast majority of the heart function,” Gulati said.

The hospital has been implanting the pump, known as ventricular assist device or VAD, in patients for a decade, he said.

“The new scope is destination therapy,” Gulati said. “For people who had no other options, this is truly a life- saving, life-altering device."

Saldarriaga, who retired and moved to Fort Mill four years ago, knows all about second chances. “My next step is a transplant. I'm looking forward to that.”

Puth will get to see his first-year wedding anniversary and catch his seven-month old daughter if she falls while taking her first steps, all because of the device he received last Christmas.

“It’s a rebirth,” he said. “Just to be able to see my daughter grow. I'm just thankful.”

The device buys time as patients eligible for a heart transplant wait. For those not eligible for a transplant, the device provides a bridge for life.

“There’s only three centers in North Carolina, and we’re the only one in the greater Charlotte region that has the device and is certified to implant,” Gulati said.

Saldarriaga has had the pump for at least three months. Before then, his outlook was not promising. He learned something was wrong more than a decade ago.

“I had a really bad case of bronchitis,” said Saldarriaga, who went to an urgent care center. “They took a chest x-ray. That’s when they noticed my heart was enlarged.”

His job as a New York City cop changed to desk duty. “I refused to believe the outcome,” he said. “I was feeling well. I continued going to the gym.”

Saldarriaga’s health improved, and he went back to full police duty for about a year. Then he suffered a second bout with bronchitis, he said.

Saldarriaga retired in 2002 and married his wife, Milja, in 2004. Two years later, the couple moved to Fort Mill, and health complications began again last year.

“In April, I started feeling out of sorts,” said Saldarriaga. “I was admitted into the intensive care unit. I thought, ‘I was sick. Patch me back up.’”

But he got worse while hospitalized at CMC.

“They didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Saldarriaga, who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Gulati said the medication was failing and Saldarriaga was getting worse. “He was tired, short of breath, loss of appetite. He was essentially dying.”

A heart transplant, Saldarriaga said, wasn’t part of the plan at that time.

“He really didn’t have a lot of options,” Gulati said. “We had to consider more advanced measures. That’s when we considered the ventricular assist device.”

Doctors implanted the device. A power line, brought out through Saldarriaga’s skin below his ribs, connects to a battery, Gulati said.

The surgery was complete in about four to six hours followed by a two- to four-day intensive care unit stay. After ICU, the patient remains in a regular hospital room for seven to 10 days, Gulati said.”

Gulati said patients learn how to change the battery. They carry one or two spares. The patient and family members learn what VAD alarms mean and how to correct the alarm.

Saldarriaga had his surgery Sept. 9, 2009, and was discharged Sept. 30, 2009. “He’s done very well,” Gulati said. “He looks like a changed man.”

Saldarriaga added, “I feel excellent. There are very few limitations on activities that I can do.”

Puth’s pump has been in place for nearly eight months. “I used to work in welding,” he said. “The parking lot was about 100 yards. I noticed shortness of breath when I was walking to the facility.”

He learned he had confestive heart failure. But he married Lisa last September, and they were expecting their first baby on Dec. 13.

“In November, I went to the emergency room, and they diagnosed me with an enlarged heart,” he said. “They found out my heart was only pumping 50 percent.”

When his daughter was born, an overly tired Puth had to force himself to get out of bed to go to the hospital.

“He almost didn’t make it to the birth of our daughter,” Lisa said. “When he came in the hospital, he was in a wheelchair.”

Puth managed to make it through the birth, but he didn’t cut the umbilical cord. “I was too weak,” he said. “When I held my daughter, I could only hold her for a few minutes.”

That was Dec. 6, 2009. Less than three weeks later, doctors prepped him to receive his pump. The outcome is good, he said.

“Eating was tiring. Drinking was tiring. Sleeping was tiring,” Puth said. Now, “I feel great.”

Saldarriaga has some good news:

“I’m actually on the list for a heart transplant,” he said. “I’m very excited. This is what I worked so hard for. Very strict regime, following the doctors orders and exercising.”

Still, until a new heart is available for Saldarriaga, he will rely on his pump. “It’s keeping me alive,” he said.