With 1 in 100 children in Austrlaia born with a congenital heart defect, doctors are hopeful that a new super durable heart patch that mimics human tissue will significantly improve their lives.
The patch, made by Australian company Allied Healthcare Group, was used in surgery for the first time last week in three operations at Brisbane's Mater Children's Hospital.
Cardiac surgeon Professor Tom Karl says the prosthesis is made from cow heart membrane. It is used to repair holes in the heart walls of children with congenital heart defect.
The patch has undergone special processing doctors hope will stop it breaking down in the body. Current products broke down as soon as one year after they were implanted, said Professor Karl.
"If we can prevent degeneration of material that we implant inside the heart ... then we can avoid re-operations which are unfortunately common in complex congenital heart defects," he said.
Professor Karl said the three patients were doing well, and time will tell whether the patches last.
"If this patch looks better in terms of its ... function at one year of age than previous patch materials have, then it's quite likely that in the intermediate and longer term it will also be superior to what we've got now," he said.
Allied Healthcare managing director Lee Rodne said doctors had been searching for a non-toxic heart patch for a long time.
"As an Australian company we're very excited to be the first in the world with clinical data to show that we overcome those limitations," he said.
The company plans to market the CardioCel patch in the US and Europe, pending approval from health regulators, and hopes the patch could be used in adults in the future.
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