After 60 years of hard service in the human world, Zhao Hong's heart stopped working.
To a cardiac surgeon, this is perfectly normal.
The human heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute, and the work done in pumping blood in a lifetime is equivalent to lifting a 30,000 kilogram object up to the top of the Himalayas.
If it were a machine, it would have been broken long ago.
It is truly a miracle of nature that it can last for 60 years.
In fact, as early as ten years ago, Zhao Hong began to feel inadequate.
Over the years, a serious heart condition left him living a life of no quality.
At the beginning, after going up two floors, I felt weak and couldn't open the door.
Later, I couldn't breathe in the middle of the night and was hospitalized repeatedly.
Now, he can barely walk and becomes out of breath if he moves even a little bit. He needs to be put into the ICU once a month to save his life.
Accompanied by his son, he traveled to hospitals all over the country, and every hospital gave him a critical illness notice. The doctor made it clear that only a heart transplant would give him a chance of survival.
"A normal person's heart is like a balloon. It reaches its limit when it reaches 80. Your heart failure has reached 79. Even if you are sitting in bed and not moving, your heart may rupture at any time. Once it breaks, your heart will be gone."
After returning from Beijing Anzhen Hospital, the words of the director of cardiology kept echoing in his mind, making him completely fall into despair.
Finding a heart to take over became his greatest wish.
However, the reality is cruel.
Finding a suitable donor heart for transplant is extremely difficult.
There are tens of millions of heart failure patients in China, and 5% of them will develop severe heart failure and enter the waiting list for heart transplantation.
There are only hundreds of hearts available for transplant every year, and many heart failure patients die while waiting for a heart transplant.
Of a hundred patients waiting for a heart transplant, only one will get one.
Zhao Hong waited for ten years, but he still couldn't find a matching heart.
In the end, even he gave up and lay helpless in bed every day, using a lot of drugs to maintain his remaining life.
He knew in his heart that his heart was extremely fragile.
As the doctor said, his heart failure has now reached the level of 79.9999. His heart is like a glass bottle full of cracks. Even a slight cough can completely break it into a pile of slag.
After heart failure, other organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, stomach, etc. will also begin to decline and gradually fail.
For patients with end-stage heart failure who rely solely on oral drug treatment, the 1-year survival rate is only 15%.
On this day, Zhao Hong was lying on the bed, sleeping in a daze, when he was suddenly awakened by a phone ringing.
He listened for a moment, and it seemed that his son's cell phone rang.
I vaguely heard my son talking, and heard words such as "heart failure", "animal experiments", "clinical use", "pig and sheep".
He thought it was his son consulting another doctor, so he stopped paying attention and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
At 60 years old, there is not much hope for a heart transplant.
At this age, even if there is a matching heart, it is difficult to give it to him, and younger patients will be considered.
Unless no one really wants the heart, it will be his turn.
Even thinking about it on his heels, he knew that this kind of thing couldn't happen.
Even if you are lucky enough to find a heart suitable for transplantation.
What greeted him was also a race against time.
You must know that the heart is the most difficult organ to preserve, and the hearts used for transplantation are all harvested from brain-dead people.
And the heart begins to deteriorate the moment it's taken out of the donor's body.
Under conventional frozen storage conditions, its shelf life is only 4-6 hours, during which doctors must complete the entire transplantation process.
Not every recipient happens to be there, so more than half of the world's donated hearts are damaged in transit due to prolonged ischemia, and ultimately cannot be used for transplantation.
Even if the patient is barely able to work, the longer the ischemia time, the worse the effect after transplantation and the higher the mortality rate.
It can be seen that a successful heart transplant requires the right time, location, people and people.
If the patient is very lucky, the donor happens to die in the same hospital, and the doctor is highly skilled, he can complete a heart transplant operation that is the pinnacle of surgical difficulty within 4 hours.
The matter does not end here. After the operation, the patient will need to take anti-rejection drugs for life to suppress his own immune system.
If the medication is not taken on time, or if any infection develops, all efforts can be ruined.
During this period, the surgery fee was almost 600,000 yuan. In the later period, I continued to take anti-rejection drugs, which cost tens of thousands of yuan a year. And I had to pay for it out of my own pocket, which ordinary families simply could not afford.
"The operation fee is 600,000 yuan, and the rejection drugs are 40,000 yuan a year, which is 1 million in ten years. The life span of a heart transplant should be more than 10 years. If I live to 75 years old, it will cost at least 1.2 million yuan. If there are other problems in the future, , and it will cost more.”
"If it doesn't work out, we can only sell the house where we live for retirement..."
Zhao Hong thought to himself, calculated the number again and again, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
I have worked hard all my life and saved some savings. Over the years, I have spent all my money on medical treatment. Only the house is worth a little money. After the medical treatment, there is probably not much left.
Everything I have gained in 60 years will have to be vomited out when I get old, and I will pay it back exactly, and in the end I will leave nothing behind.
What has happened in this life?
I can't even ask for this kind of opportunity to go bankrupt. I can't wait for ten years. I don't have that kind of fate, haha.
Zhao Hong was feeling sorry for himself when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. He looked up and saw his son rushing in with excitement on his face.
"Dad, good news, my cousin just called me and you are saved!"
Zhao Hong's eyes instantly shone, he grabbed his son's hand and said tremblingly.
"Wait, wait for the heart?"
The son nodded frantically: "I've been waiting for it, finally I've waited for the artificial heart."
"Huh?" Zhao Hong was immediately disappointed and let go of his hand: "Isn't it a heart transplant?"
The son quickly said: "Dad, this is not an ordinary artificial heart, it is the latest artificial heart developed by Sanqing Group, Sanqing, Sanqing, did you hear it?"
Zhao Hong waved his hand impatiently: "I know, isn't it the ventricular assist device?"
"Have you forgotten what the doctor said? The artificial heart is useless to me."
The son explained patiently: "I know, but Sanqing's artificial heart is different."
"The doctor once said that the artificial hearts on the market now are all left ventricular assist devices, which are of little use to people like you who have both left and right ventricular failure. Only a foreign total artificial heart can be used, but That one is temporary and can only be used for a period of time while waiting for the transplant, and it won’t be used for too long.”
"Don't worry, my cousin told me very clearly that Sanqing is a fully artificial heart that can completely replace the heart's function. Even if the heart stops beating, it can make the blood pump again."
Zhao Hong's eyes widened. These words contained too much information, and it was difficult for him to digest them for a while.
But the only thing he understood was that Sanqing's artificial heart could be used on him.
Seeing that he was still in a daze, his son took out his mobile phone and handed it to him.
"Sanqing's artificial heart has been used in animals. Look at this sheep. It looks ordinary and has nothing abnormal. In fact, its heart has been removed and replaced with Sanqing's artificial heart. .”
Zhao Hong took the phone with trembling hands and looked at the screen.
This is a place that looks like a laboratory. Inside a metal fence, there are two ordinary-looking sheep standing there.
The only abnormality about the two sheep is that there is something like a power bank hanging around their necks, and nothing else.
Zhao Hong frowned: "Isn't this an ordinary sheep? Is there anything strange about it?"
"Don't worry, look back, the operation will be soon."
The image of two sheep flashed by, and then the operating table appeared. A sheep was lying on it and fell into a deep sleep, and a group of medical staff were busy beside it.
Open the chest, remove the left and right ventricles, install the artificial heart, start it, close the chest...
A series of pictures appeared in front of his eyes, making Zhao Hong's breathing become rapid.
Before he finished watching the video, the phone slipped from his hand. He clutched his chest and gasped for air.
"Dad, Dad, no matter what! I'm sick again."
When the son saw something was wrong, he quickly took his mobile phone and dialed 120 emergency number.
Seeing that his old father was sent to the ICU again because he was too excited, he couldn't help crying and laughing, and called his cousin Dr. Zhao again.
"Brother, I'm afraid dad is really going to die this time. Please help me contact him as soon as possible. Please!"
****
"Okay, okay, Mr. Wang, thank you very much."
Dr. Zhao hung up the phone, his hanging heart finally falling.
Last night, his uncle was sent to Kunming First People's Hospital due to end-stage heart failure. His cousin hurriedly called to ask for help.
Based on his past understanding, if there are no accidents, there is a high probability that his uncle will end up in the ICU this time.
But a month ago, the animal testing center where he worked ushered in a major project - an artificial heart.
Experiments on artificial hearts on large animals have been very successful. After two sheep were equipped with artificial hearts, they became vigorous and alive without any abnormalities. They were even more energetic than before.
This effect opened his eyes, and he instantly thought of his uncle's heart failure.
So he found the dean and asked for the number of Mr. Wang from Sanqing to call for help.
His purpose was simple, he just wanted to find a chance of life for his uncle and replace him with Sanqing's artificial heart.
Since this product has not yet started clinical trials, it logically cannot be used on any patients.
One exception he had in mind was humanitarian exemption surgery.
In layman's terms, when a patient is diagnosed as incurable and has only three days left to live, drugs and medical devices that have not gone through clinical trials can be used as a last-ditch attempt as long as the patient or family member consents.
These things have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, so they can only be regarded as dead horses and live horses.
Generally, three requirements must be met. The first is that the family members sign the agreement to avoid subsequent accountability and to prevent the family members from having to settle accounts with the hospital after the person dies.
The second step is to go through the review and approval of the hospital ethics officer. The staff will talk to the family members to understand the situation and make sure that nothing illegal or anti-ethical happened.
The last step is to go to the health department for preparation. Without preparation, the surgery cannot be performed.
The whole process will take about two or three days, after which the doctor will perform the surgery.
After getting Sanqing's consent, Dr. Zhao took action with his cousin.
Fortunately, he was familiar with these procedures and had people he knew in the hospital and health department, so he finally obtained approval from the health department within two days.
In this way, after lying in the ICU for two days, Zhao Hong finally got the heart he had dreamed of.
****
In the operating room, Zhao Hong lay quietly on the operating table, his chest was opened, and his heart, which had been with him for 60 years, was rising and falling undetectably.
On the operating cart not far from him, another artificial heart was ready.
Artificial heart transplantation is a major operation, and Director Li from the Cardiac Surgery Department personally performs it as the chief surgeon.
As for other doctors, the entire operating room was packed.
Everyone held their breath and watched the surgery scenes on the screen attentively.
"Our heart is divided into four chambers: left atrium, left ventricle, right atrium and right ventricle. The central atrium is responsible for the return of blood throughout the body, while the ventricle is responsible for pumping blood. Among them, the left ventricle is mainly responsible for pumping blood to the whole body. Most heart failure patients also have left-sided heart failure.”
"When a patient's left ventricle and right ventricle fail simultaneously, implanting a ventricular assist device in the left ventricle alone becomes less effective."
"We have two options at this point: Either implant the patient with two ventricular assist devices, one for each side of the heart, or implant a total artificial heart."
"Of course, in addition, heart transplantation is also a good option."
"For heart transplantation, the advantage of artificial heart is that it does not require a heart donor, the operation is simple, and the rejection reaction is small. The disadvantage is that the application time is relatively short and it is easy to cause blood clots."
"Sanqing's artificial heart is a total artificial heart. It is said that it can replace a real heart. If it can be done, it will be one of the greatest miracles in the history of cardiac surgery."
“It is a great honor for us to personally witness the birth of this landmark product.”
"Okay, without further ado, the operation will officially begin."
"First we need to open the chest to expose the heart, then connect the artificial heart-lung machine to establish extracorporeal circulation. Then inject cardioplegia into the heart to stop the heart, and use the artificial heart-lung machine to temporarily replace the heart's function."
Since it was still a teaching surgery, Director Li skillfully placed catheters in the aorta and superior and inferior vena cava to temporarily block the blood flow while explaining.
These catheters are connected to an artificial heart-lung machine, which pumps blood throughout the body.
"The second step is to remove the left and right ventricles that pump blood, leaving only the left and right atria that return blood."
"This patient's dilated cardiomyopathy has reached an advanced stage. A normal person's left ventricle is only 30-40mm, and his has reached 90mm. Together with the right ventricle, the heart has more than doubled in size, and its function is seriously damaged. The left and right ventricles are severely damaged. I can’t even keep the ventricles.”
He then cut open the right ventricle, cut off the apex, and then cut off the left ventricle.
Then the pulmonary artery root and pulmonary valve, as well as the aorta, are cut off in sequence.
Finally, the entire ventricle is removed.
