Celebration marks one year for Emory heart patient living with new VAD device

ATLANTA - 33-year-old Tiatanna Leland is celebrating a major milestone - it's been one year since she became the first person in the U.S. to have a BrioVAD device surgically implanted for heart failure.

"This device gave me a new life. An extension of my life. I am so blessed," says Leland.

Leland had been experiencing severe shortness of breath to the point of feeling as if she was suffocating. After multiple trips to the emergency room and not finding answers, her grandmother suggested Emory Healthcare. She was seen by cardiothoracic surgeon Mani Daneshmand, MD and the Emory Heart Failure and Transplant teams. They determined that she was the perfect candidate to take part in an FDA approved clinical trial for this new device. Known as a ventricular assist device or VAD, the device helps pump blood from the lower chambers of the heart to the rest of the body in those with a weakened heart or heart failure.

"The BrioVAD is a promising heart assist pump, designed from the ground up with focus on patient safety and quality of life. With this study, we continue our long history of innovation in pursuit of our mission to bring compassionate, quality care to every patient who arrives at our doors seeking care," says Daneshmand, who is director of Emory Heart & Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support.

The device, created by BrioHealth Solutions Inc., is a smaller VAD device that interacts with the blood in a way that may have fewer side effects. The new VAD also includes a fully magnetically levitated rotor and two small, lightweight, patient-worn components.

The hope is that this device may be used as a life-long option for patients or be used as a bridge to transplant. Leland is now looking towards the future and has started a non-profit to help others living with VAD devices.

"I want to let people know it's okay to have this device. I want them to look at it as a new beginning to life."

Note: The BrioVAD System is an Investigational Device limited by Federal Law to use in the INNOVATE Trial.

About the INNOVATE Trial
The INNOVATE Trial is a prospective, non-blinded, randomized, controlled study that will enroll patients for both short-term and long-term Mechanical Circulatory Support indications.