China News Service, Beijing, January 5th (Liu Huan) How can a person live normally without a heartbeat?
Without a suitable heart transplant, will a patient with heart failure be declared terminally ill?
A few days ago, Wang Shiqi, a talk show actor who became popular because of the installation of an artificial heart, accepted an interview with Chinanews.com and told how the artificial heart helped him bring him back to life.
24 years old, terminally ill
At a middle school sports meeting, two students had a conflict.
24-year-old high school math teacher Wang Shiqi (real name: Wang Yangyang) went to fight, but he didn't expect to faint on the ground first.
At the hospital, he was told he had dilated cardiomyopathy — a heart muscle disease in which the heart weakens, with its chambers enlarged and unable to pump blood adequately.
Wang Shiqi went to many places across the country to seek medical treatment, but in the end he always got the same answer - the cause is unknown at present, it will only get worse, and there is no particularly effective treatment.
"After I knew it was a terminal illness, I was very disappointed. No matter how hard I tried, it was useless. Why should this disease be my turn?" Wang Qiqi felt that since he would not live long anyway, he should go to his favorite place as soon as possible. Days, playing ball, traveling, and even staying up late.
But the body didn't agree with his thoughts.
After 2008, Wang Shiqi's condition began to deteriorate gradually. Not only did he often have difficulty breathing, but he also couldn't even walk. Everyday trivial things became difficulties beyond his power.
"It's like the few steps left after running a few thousand meters. You just can't walk, you can't take a step."
Cui Yong, Chief Physician of Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, told Chinanews.com that the society has little awareness of heart failure. In fact, it is a very dangerous disease. Comprehensive treatment can prolong the life span of 3 to 5 years. However, if the patient suffers from heart failure and develops to the end stage, the patient generally only has a life expectancy of 1 to 2 years.”
He pointed out that it is conservatively estimated that there are 5 million heart failure patients in China. "This is a very desperate group. The mortality rate of end-stage heart failure is very high. The patient's physical condition is getting worse day by day, and they are seeing their lives come to an end. .”
Photo courtesy of interviewees of Wang Shiqi receiving treatment
17 years, waiting for an artificial heart
After being diagnosed with heart failure, patients will all look forward to heart transplantation, but this is often a luxury.
Cui Yong said that no more than 1,000 heart transplants are performed each year, and the demand for patients is far greater than the supply.
"A famous doctor in the United States once said that if we use transplantation to solve the problem of heart failure, it is like buying a lottery to win a lottery to solve the problem of poverty. It is simply a drop in the bucket."
In 2019, Wang Shiqi, whose condition continued to deteriorate, fainted again at the Beijing Railway Station.
Lying on the 120 emergency bed, he saw all the street lights going backwards outside the window, "I feel like I am entering the space-time tunnel at the end of my life."
The doctor told him and his family that they could try to transplant an artificial heart developed in Japan.
But after listening to the explanation, Wang Shiqi's mother came back and shook her head, saying: "The condition of the transplanted heart is very good, but I think they have to install a tube in the stomach, and the tube is too thick. It's too uncomfortable."
Eight months later, the medicine could no longer relieve Wang Shiqi's pain.
At this time, a doctor from the Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences told him that he could try the latest generation of fully magnetic levitation artificial heart independently developed by my country.
At that time, my country had already started clinical trials of a fully magnetic levitation artificial heart.
The developer threw the artificial heart the size of a pocket watch on the table in front of Wang Shiqi.
However, no matter how hard it falls, the heart can maintain a stable rotation at an angle.
"I thought it was amazing, and it only needs to be connected to a very thin wire on the body, so it is very convenient to carry." He said.
Schematic diagram of artificial heart photo provided by the interviewee
Cui Yong told Chinanews.com that the latest generation of fully magnetically levitated artificial heart consists of a magnetically levitated blood pump, control lines, external controllers, and power supplies.
The doctor installs the artificial heart on the apex of the patient's left atrium through a thoracotomy. The internal pump pumps out the blood that the heart cannot deliver, and then uses power to transport it to the whole body.
In addition, the doctor needs to pass the heart control line through the patient's abdominal wall and connect it to the external controller and power supply.
After charging and charging, the rotor in the middle of the artificial heart is completely floating in the middle without the support of the rotating shaft.
The doctor said to Wang Shiqi: "The rotor in the middle is so magnetic that no matter how you shake it, it will rotate normally. It is more stable than installing a rod in the middle to rotate."
However, the doctor also cautioned that the surgery is risky and has an 85% success rate.
Wang Shiqi decided to take a gamble.
After all, he has been waiting for 17 years.
What is life like with an artificial heart?
The operation was a success.
The artificial heart in Wang Shiqi's body can intelligently monitor his state, and deliver corresponding blood volume according to different situations such as sitting, lying, standing, sleeping, and exercising, so as to maintain the normal operation of the body.
Even without a heartbeat, Wang Shiqi can still live a normal life.
"The difference from before is that now I feel very comfortable after exercising, I don't feel uncomfortable in my heart, and my appetite has returned. I don't feel particularly tired like when I was sick, and I don't feel suffocated, and my breathing is very smooth." Wang Qiqi said, After the surgery, he felt he was back in good health.
Of course, because it needs to be charged, Wang Shiqi has to carry the battery and controller with him every day, and protect the wires. When he sleeps and turns over, he has to feel for the wires to see if they are bent.
The artificial heart has now been working inside him for nearly three years.
He compiled his own experience into a story and put it on the stage of a talk show, so that more heart failure patients can learn how to face the disease and the knowledge of artificial heart.
Photo provided by the interviewee after Wang Qiqi's surgery
After each performance, Wang Shiqi would say 3 sentences.
The first sentence, if you want less, you will become rich.
He said that when he was lying on the hospital bed, he realized that he wanted too much in the past.
"But when life is coming to an end, I realize that there may be nothing in the end. So it's better to reduce desires at the beginning, live a little more comfortably in your heart, and you will become rich."
The second sentence, do it when you think of it, and say it if you have love.
He said that people are full of regrets at the last moment.
This kind of regret is not that I failed to accomplish some career or achievement, but that I never had the opportunity to do some small things, such as reuniting with friends and having a good chat with my parents.
"If I can live a little longer, I will reduce these regrets within my ability."
The third sentence, I don't know whether human beings have a soul, but if there is, it must be composed of love and kindness.
Wang Shiqi had a patient friend when he was hospitalized, and the two had only known each other for a few months.
Later, he met the conditions and was ready for surgery, but the patient failed to meet the standard.
Before Wang Shiqi was pushed into the operating room, the patient kept looking out the door until the nurse said: "He has already gone in, don't worry." The patient finally closed his eyes and stopped his heartbeat.
"He was afraid that leaving before I entered the operating room would cause a psychological shadow, so in order to reassure me, he waited until I entered the operating room without closing his eyes," Wang Shiqi said.
(use up)