Historically, many advanced heart failure patients who don’t qualify for a heart transplant rely on medication or are referred to palliative care to manage symptoms, but newer technological advancements like HeartMate 3 can provide this population another life-prolonging option. The benefits of heart pumps are especially true for the estimated² 15,000 advanced heart failure patients whose median lifespan is under a year because they are on inotropic medication alone. While some of these patients await a donor heart, due to a limited number of organs available, heart pumps like the HeartMate 3 can improve survival while offering immediate, significant and sustained quality of life.  

The latest MOMENTUM 3 data also demonstrate that the five-year survival for HeartMate 3 patients (nearly 60%) is approaching the five-year survival rates of heart transplant recipients who have a similar risk profile.

“Thousands of people with advanced heart failure die every year because they do not receive a heart pump, largely because their physicians are not aware of the option or its full benefits,” said Keith Boettiger, vice president of Abbott’s heart failure business. “There are too many patients who aren’t provided the opportunity to be evaluated for a heart pump, such as patients with obesity, diabetes, certain cancers and blood types or those from underserved communities across the United States. With broader awareness and improved access to a heart pump, we can give these patients a chance at a longer, fuller life.”

More than 6.2 million Americans have heart failure³, with diagnoses projected to double⁴ by 2030. Abbott’s HeartMate 3 heart pump is an implantable device that pumps blood through the body in people whose heart is too weak to do so on its own. It is the only commercially approved heart pump with Full MagLev™ technology, which allows the device’s rotor to be “suspended” by magnetic forces, a unique design that has been proven to reduce trauma to blood passing through the pump, improving patient survival and quality of life. These factors along with its ability to produce an artificial pulse, results in the lowest rate of pump-related complications of any other blood pump.

 “The finding that the HeartMate 3 device can reliably add years to one’s life is compelling evidence for all cardiologists to evaluate their patients with progressive heart failure for this therapy,” said Daniel J. Goldstein, M.D., surgical director, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Cardiac Transplantation at Montefiore Medical Center. “Earlier referral and intervention are critical for this population where it can be challenging to make an accurate diagnosis from physical symptoms alone. The latest MOMENTUM trial data help contextualize the benefits of heart pumps and will help more physicians work with their patients to explore this life-enhancing and life-prolonging alternative as their disease moves into the territory of advanced heart failure.”