NTU Achieves Asia First Heart-Free Survival

National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), the primary teaching hospital of National Taiwan University (NTU) — a leading institution with a comprehensive medical system that includes six affiliated hospitals — has successfully performed Asia’s first “dual long-term ventricular assist device (VAD)” implantation on a 46-year-old patient suffering from end-stage heart failure. After removing the patient’s necrotic left and right ventricles, the surgical team implanted two VAD systems to simulate a total artificial heart, allowing the patient to survive without a native heart. The patient has recovered well and can now eat and walk while waiting for a heart transplant.

The patient had severe heart muscle damage and suffered repeated cardiac arrests despite multiple advanced life-support treatments. NTUH transplant center director Dr. Yi-Hsian Chen explained that heart failure has a higher mortality rate than many cancers, yet treatment options remain limited due to the scarcity of donor hearts in Taiwan. For critically ill patients, innovative support strategies may be the only chance to survive until transplantation.

Because commercially available total artificial hearts are too large for most Asian patients, the NTUH team chose to implant two long-term VADs to fully replace cardiac pumping function. While each device can typically operate for 5–7 years, the patient will still require lifelong anticoagulation and ultimately a heart transplant. NTUH leaders emphasized that the success of this surgically and medically demanding case demonstrates the strength of the hospital’s multidisciplinary advanced circulatory support team—and its commitment to safeguarding every possible life.