DALLAS – A surgical team at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas successfully performed a heart transplant on a patient they were keeping alive with a total artificial heart, a portable device that pumps blood throughout the body when both sides of the heart fail.

The heart transplant was performed February 29. Weeks earlier, Baylor University Medical Center surgeons had removed the patient's damaged native heart and replaced it with a total artificial heart. The lifesaving technology is used as a "bridge" for patients who have end-stage biventricular heart failure and are waiting for a donor human heart or who are too sick to receive a transplant. It provides mechanical support until a donor human heart can be found.

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is the only hospital in the region to implant a total artificial heart and transition the patient to a successful heart transplant. The center joins select group of high volume transplant centers across the country to offer this service for patients.

"This is a special day for our patient and for our entire team," said Shelley Hall, MD, chief of transplant cardiology, mechanical circulatory support and heart failure, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. "The patients who need this technology are the sickest of the sick and we are proud to offer our patients the latest tool to battle the nation's number one killer, heart disease."

The patient, 52-year-old Bryan Tyo, is a McKinney resident who suffered a heart attack in January. The damage to his heart was so advanced that repair surgery and other mechanical assist devices could not help.

"Baylor now offers every option for our heart failure patients," said Themistokles Chamogeorgakis, MD, associate surgical director of heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. "With fewer donor hearts becoming available, it is critical to offer these opportunities to bridge our patients to transplant."

Tyo is the first patient in North Texas to use the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart Freedom driver. It is a 13.5-pound portable unit that powered his artificial heart. The device replaced both failing ventricles and the four heart valves, restored an immediate flow of blood to the body and helped vital organs recover faster.

"I'm just thankful for this second chance at life," said Tyo. "My wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary in October and I've got 25 more years to be with her, if she'll put up with me," he joked.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of nearly 600,000 people a year. The bridge to transplant option is critical because only 2,200 donor hearts become available every year in the U.S.

While wait times can vary, Baylor University Medical Center has a median wait time of seven days for status 1A heart transplant patients from the time they are listed to transplant, one of the shortest wait times in the country.