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When avid traveler and retired teacher Jim Carelli Jr. was diagnosed with cardiac senile amyloidosis almost 18 months ago, his active lifestyle came to a halt.
The disorder caused deposits of abnormal protein in Carelli's heart tissue, making it difficult for his heart to work. Carelli needed a transplant to save his life, but a donor wasn't available. His BWH care team realized the only option for survival was to remove the 66-year-old's heart and replace it with a Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to transplant, making BWH the first hospital in New England to perform such a procedure.
"If I didn't have this device, I probably would have ended up dying," said Carelli, a Holbrook resident who taught science in the Braintree public school system for 32 years and also coached the girls' high school track and field team.
Gregory Couper, MD, surgical director of the BWH Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program, and a surgical team performed Carelli's procedure in February, removing his damaged heart and replacing it with an artificial heart.
Carelli's artificial heart works just like a human heart by pumping blood through the body, but it's powered by a 418-pound driver, known affectionately as "Big Blue." The driver regulates the artificial heart rate and blood flow. Other artificial heart patients around the country have been able to leave the hospital with a smaller device called a "freedom driver," but that wasn't possible for Carelli because he is on dialysis to support kidney function.
Heart failure affects nearly 6 million people in the U.S., and while about 100,000 of those patients might benefit from a heart transplant, donor hearts are available for only about 2,000 people in this country per year, explained Michael Givertz, MD, medical director of the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program.
"With this new procedure here at the Brigham, we're able to provide a bridge to transplant while Mr. Carelli waits for a donor," Givertz said.
Carelli said the support of his family, including his wife, Jane; sister, Kathy; and mother, Lucy, has helped him through this ordeal.
"Jane is my ‘rock angel,'" Carelli said. "Her spirit is solid as a rock, and she's my angel because she is here every day, helping any way she can."
Carelli has also received incredible support from his care team, including Katie Carroll, RN, and Kayla Quinn, RN, who happen to be his former students and athletes at Braintree High School.
For Carelli, undergoing this procedure is just the beginning of the road to recovery. Now, he waits for a donor who will provide a heart and kidney.
"I'm glad people will realize that if you have a serious heart problem, you now have an alternative with this device," Carelli said. "It might take months to get a donor, but at least you'll get through it. This procedure provides great hope, which matters because sometimes people have no hope at all."
View photos of Mr. Carelli before, during and after his procedureRead a message from BW/F President Betsy Nabel, MD, about the total artificial heart
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