“The HeartMate II has allowed me to breathe, so I can sing again. It’s given me my strength back. My wife and I have reconstructed our careers. I’m now 78 and back to where I was 10 years ago–literally. I have my life back!”
William, age 78, NYHA Class I

“What I find very exciting about this technology is that
there are very few things in medicine where you can go
beyond the promise, that you can actually make
people better than even they think they’re going
to be.” Thomas MacGillivray, M.D., Cardiac Surgeon

With the advances that Thoratec has made in technologies to support long term patients, physicians now have the potential to offer solutions to the sickest heart failure patients—more than 250,000 Americans each year who are refractory to optimal medical management, ineligible for cardiac transplantation and who have no viable alternative.¹

HeartMate II restores life to patients who were previously incapacitated with very limited activity levels prior to receiving an LVAD, enabling them to breathe more easily, feel less fatigued and resume normal activities that they were unable to do—in some cases for years—prior to receiving the device. This marked improvement in functional capacity and symptoms of heart failure provides hope to the patients that we serve—empowering them to regain enjoyment and quality of life that would not have been possible before.

¹ Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2010 Update, American Heart Association