{"id":840221,"date":"2026-09-08T04:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840221\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T04:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:52:20","slug":"fitted-with-a-berlin-heart-little-macs-is-absolutely-thriving-while-he-waits-for-a-heart-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840221\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitted with a Berlin Heart, Little Macs Is ‘Absolutely Thriving’ While He Waits for a Heart Transplant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Macs Green \u2013 credit, family photo supplied to the BBC<\/p>\n

From the UK comes the story of a baby called Macs, who seemed poised for final-stage heart failure, but who has been saved by a device called a Berlin Heart.<\/p>\n

The only device of its kind available for babies and children with severe heart failure, the Berlin Heart takes over pumping of the heart while the patient awaits a transplant.<\/p>\n

A seemingly normal baby, Macs Green suddenly suffered two cardiac arrests and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease which can lead to heart failure.<\/p>\n

From his hospital bed at Bristol Royal Children\u2019s Hospital where he sat on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, the doctors told his parents Dylan and Catrin, that they should make preparations for an end of life scenario.<\/p>\n

Then, it became clear that Macs could receive a Berlin Heart, a type of ventricular assist device (VAD) that works through air power to mechanically pump the heart to send blood around the body.<\/p>\n

Manufactured in Berlin, the device has changed pediatric cardiology in a dramatic way. It comes in two formats, INCOR and EXCOR, with the former supporting left ventricular flow and the latter providing comprehensive heart support. The first European Berlin Heart patient received the device in the year 1990, and the first American received one in 2000.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2013 credit, family photo supplied to the BBC<\/p>\n

In 2012, a toddler set a record for living with the EXCOR for 2.5 years, while in 2014 there had been 1,500 Berlin Hearts fitted to children and infant patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means he can come off the drugs which have been sedating him. Since then, he\u2019s a completely different baby,\u201d Dylan said<\/a> of his 3rd son after receiving the Berlin Heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s smiling, he\u2019s responding to us. Before now, he\u2019s just been a small baby lying on a bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

SIMILAR DEVICES: Man Lives for 100 Days with Artificial Titanium Heart in Successful New Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

His wife Catrin agreed, saying that since the operation it has been \u201clike having our baby back,\u201d and that Macs was \u201cabsolutely thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how long Macs will have to wait to receive a heart transplant. It may take years, but it seems the Berlin Heart is up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

SHARE Brave Macs\u2019 Story Of Survival Thanks To This Incredible Device\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Macs Green \u2013 credit, family photo supplied to the BBC From the UK comes the story of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6729,151,3149,97,8982,49622,74],"class_list":["post-840221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-babies","tag-children","tag-disease","tag-health","tag-heart","tag-survival","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}