An article by the UW-Madison Department of Surgery highlighted a multidisciplinary effort in a successful clinical trial of a new device for treatment of heart failure. 

The MOMENTUM 3 clinical trial of the Heartmate 3 device, which is an intrathoracic, magnetically levitated centrifugal continuous-flow circulatory pump used as a left ventricular assist system, involved close collaboration between Takushi Kohmoto, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Surgery and director of the UW Health Mechanical Assist Device Program and Ravi Dhingra, MD, MPH, Cardiovascular Medicine, assistant professor (CHS), cardiovascular medicine and director of the UW Health Heart Failure and Transplant Program. 

Dr. Dhingra’s team is the first to evaluate and discuss device options with heart failure patients, 20 of whom were enrolled in the MOMENTUM 3 trial. 

The Heartmate 3 device was associated with an absence of pump thrombosis compared to 10.1 percent pump-thrombosis rate among Heartmate 2 recipients, and overall rate of stroke was nearly half as much among Heartmate 3 versus Heartmate 2 groups. 

"We feel very lucky to be part of this trial because it has benefited our sickest patients," said Dr. Dhingra. "And we have short and long term results in the trial that show its success."

Resources:

• "Helping Hearts Beat in Innovative Trial," UW-Madison Department of Surgery, April 17, 2018
• Mehra MR, Naka Y, Uriel N, Goldstein DJ, Cleveland JC Jr, Colombo PC, Walsh MN, Milano CA, Patel CB, Jorde UP, Pagani FD, Aaronson KD, Dean DA, McCants K, Itoh A, Ewald GA, Horstmanshof D, Long JW, Salerno C; MOMENTUM 3 Investigators. 2017. A Fully Magnetically Levitated Circulatory Pump for Advanced Heart Failure. N Engl J Med. 376(5):440-450

Photo credit (top): Clint Thayer/Department of Medicine