JERUSALEM, Israel – In what the medical community hopes will be a major breakthrough, Israeli doctors have implanted the first device in a patient suffering from congestive heart failure.

A medical team at Haifa's Rambam Medical Center recently performed surgery on a Canadian man, 72-year-old Robert McClaken, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.

McClaken has suffered the effects of congestive heart failure for years. It occurs when the heart cannot pump sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body.

He came to Israel to receive the implant, which in simple terms is a spring that helps to relax the heart muscle.

The patient says his condition has improved and he is expected to be released soon to return to Canada.

For three years he worried about dying from the disease.

"When I heard that there a possible solution in Israel, I took a plane and came," McClaken told the Post.

The surgery was performed by the director of Rambam's cardiac surgery team, Prof. Gil Bolotin, along with another Israeli experimental cardiology specialist, Dr. Arthur Kerner.

Israel's health ministry gave the green light to attempt the experimental procedure.



"Over 40 percent of the patients who are in Robert's condition are expected to die within five years of diagnosis," Bolotin explained. "In a very simple mechanical way, we are actually trying to solve an unmet medical problem, even though it's a bit scary to be the first to do it," he added.

An estimated 10 million people worldwide suffer from congestive heart failure. The successful procedure in Haifa is an encouraging sign that relief for others from the debilitating condition may soon be on the way.