Korean Patient Recovers Successfully after Implanting Battery - Powered heart device [arirang news]

Sometimes it may feel like you can die waiting... but more Koreans are ending up on a wait list that can actually be deadly... the heart transplant list. Last year, nearly 350 people hoped for a new heart. But a procedure new to Korea is giving them a little extra hope... and a little extra time. Kim Ji-yeon reports. Seventy-five-year-old Bae Jung-soo walked out of a local hospital on New Year's Eve, four months after undergoing heart surgery. But this was no ordinary procedure, not that heart surgery ever is. Bae had a device called a "heart mate" implanted by surgeons into his left ventricular. The device is a battery-powered heart pump that will keep Bae, who had suffered previous heart attacks and was in end-stage heart failure,... alive. (Korean) "I am so glad I had the surgery, or I wouldn't be here today." According to Bae's physician, the device is an improved version of the one that former U.S. Vice President *** Cheney had implanted in 2010 before getting a new heart from a donor the following year. "Heart mate" plays the role of the left ventricle in the heart... by pumping blood through the motor of a mechanical heart into the main artery. The motor weighs 400 grams and is connected to a remote control that runs outside the body. Patients have to carry two, 600 gram batteries when they go outside, but there are few restrictions. Bae, for instance, can stay out for up to 16 hours if he wants. (Stand-up) "Bae's case is expected to give hope to patients suffering from chronic heart failure nationwide. And although it is a costly procedure, it could offer a temporary solution for the hundreds of people waiting on the transplant list every year." The number of patients on Korea's heart transplant list has been on a steady incline in recent years. There were 347 on the list last year. Less than one-third of patients on the list received a transplant last year,...and on average, less than 100 patients are fortunate enough to get a donor heart each year. For now, the device comes with a hefty price here in Korea, where it costs more than 100-thousand U.S. dollars. Implanting the "heart mate" is a common procedure in the U.S. and Europe,... but patients there aren't typically required to pay in full for the device since it is mainly covered by health insurance. The procedure is still in its initial stages in Korea. Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.