Areas of Clinical Interest
Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) Frazier's interest in mechanical circulatory support began in 1969, when, as a student at Baylor College of Medicine, he wrote a research paper about the experimental total artificial heart, which was first implanted in 1969 by Dr. Denton Cooley. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Frazier continued experimental work toward development of the implantable HeartMate I left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
In 1986, he performed the first implant of one of these devices in a human; this device has become the most widely used implantable LVAD in the world. Frazier's seminal work in the field of left ventricular assist devices continued with experimental studies that resulted in the first intravascular, implantable continuous flow pump (Hemopump), which he first implanted in a human in April 1988. In 1991, one of Frazier's patients was the first to be discharged home with an implantable, non-tethered LVAD.
After more than 10 years of research, in 2000, he performed the first human implant of the Jarvik 2000 LVAD, also a continuous flow pump. In November 2003, he implanted the first HeartMate II LVAD in a patient; the HeartMate II is based on a similar principle to that of the Hemopump.
Total Artificial Heart (TAH) In 1985, during his tenure on the Advisory Board of NHLBI, Frazier recommended that research be initiated on a total artificial heart (TAH) that would be fully implantable and that would allow patients to be discharged and to live a normal lifestyle. The program was recommended for funding, and, subsequently, in the early 1990s, Frazier became involved in the animal experiments that led to the first implantation of the AbioCor total artificial heart (TAH) in 2001.
On March 10, 2011, Dr. Frazier and Dr. William Cohn removed the heart of a 55–year-old and replaced it with two customized HeartMate II LVADs, a research endeavor initiated at the Texas Heart Institute over the previous 5 years. The patient had developed a rare condition called cardiac amyloidosis, a disease in which the heart is infiltrated by an abnormal protein produced elsewhere in the body. Patients with this affliction are not candidates for heart transplantation due to the likelihood of recurrence in the transplanted heart. Following the procedure the patient awoke neurologically intact and able to communicate with family and caregivers and was even able to work on his computer in his hospital bed. Tragically, the disease process that had destroyed his heart continued to attack his liver and kidneys. After five weeks the patient expired following withdrawal of support. Frazier and Cohn had proven the feasibility of a completely implantable continuous-flow total artificial heart, a feat that garnered worldwide attention producing journal articles on the front of Popular Science and National Geographic.
Dr. Frazier continues to work toward a new generation TAH-one that is smaller and more reliable, so that patients of all sizes and ages might benefit.
Read more about this topic: O. H. Frazier
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