PBS Show to Feature VCU’s Total Artificial Heart Program, Thursday May 12

The Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center’s Total Artificial Heart Program will be featured on a PBS medical breakthrough TV series.

“Healthy Body, Healthy Mind - Saving Lives with the Total Artificial Heart,” will be showing in Richmond and Charlottesville at 10 p.m. Thursday, May 12, on WCVE PBS Richmond and WHTJ PBS Charlottesville.

A heart transplant is often the last resort for a person who has a diseased heart. The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart currently used at the VCU Medical Center is approved as a bridge to human heart transplant for patients dying from end-stage biventricular failure.

This show will talk about how a normal heart works, how heart failure can develop and when the total artificial heart is needed. The program also takes viewers behind the scenes of how the Total Artificial Heart works and will share success stories from patients who have received it.

Since the show’s debut in late February, it has aired in 80 markets across the United States including New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. Multiple showings have been in Baltimore, Minneapolis, Tampa, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.

The longest running health and wellness series on Public Television since its debut in 2004, “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” explores the latest medical breakthroughs in a wide variety of health and wellness topics with engaging stories told through the real-life experiences of patients and doctors.

For more information, visit http://www.healthybodyhealthymind.com/.