KOLKATA: For the last one decade, Kolkata resident Santosh Dugar has been living with an artificial heart, making him one of the longest survivors in the country with a prosthetic device that is implanted into the body of a patient when the biological heart fails.

Diagnosed with end-stage heart failure in 2000, Dugar got the machine — left

— implanted in 2009 after doctors recommended it after a series of heart attacks. Before that, he had undergone an unsuccessful

therapy. Dugar, 63, is among the 120-odd patients in India using the device. Designed to mimic the functions of a biological heart, this is an alternative for patients who need a heart transplant.

“A heart transplant surgery was the best option. But back then, it was difficult as transplants were rarely done. There was no certainty as to when and whether I would get the organ,” said Dugar. He suffered his first heart attack in 2000. He underwent an angioplasty which worked for some time. But then his heart’s pumping function started failing. He travelled to AIIMS Delhi for a stem cell therapy, but it did not work for long. Interventional cardiologist PK Hazra suggested the device after Dugar was diagnosed with ‘end-stage heart failure’.

Called HeartMate II, the mechanical heart is designed to take over the pumping function of the weakened heart’s left ventricle. It is implanted alongside the patient’s biological heart, below the diaphragm. It is then attached to the aorta, the main artery that supplies blood to the body, leaving natural circulation in place while providing all of the energy necessary to propel blood throughout the body.

“This machine works like a pump. It

from the left ventricle and ejects it to the periphery,” said Dr Hazra. A power cable via the belly button connects the device to an external portable system — a controller and batteries. All Dugar needs to do is carry a bag containing the controller and battery and ensure that he charges the latter on time to keep the device pumping. Imported from the US, the device cost around Rs 1 crore a decade ago. But the price has now come down to Rs 54 lakh, with patients using newer versions. Dugar says the device is worth the money he spent on it.

“The only drawback of the device is that the user has to carry a bag. Since the device is made of titanium, the patient can’t undergo an MRI. But unlike a transplanted heart, the device saves the patient from taking immunosuppressants,” said Hazra. “I am leading a normal life, thanks to this device,” said Dugar.