TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa man has made medical history. He’s the fifth person in the world and the first in Florida to receive a new heart pump that’s revolutionizing how people respond to heart transplants.
In November 2022, Jack Dikranian was supposed to be planning his 40th birthday party, but as it turns out, he’d actually be planning for a heart transplant. A decade of heart failure had finally caught up with him.
“For me, it was like, let's do this, let's get this new way of life going, let's put all these problems and struggles behind us, so I was kind of excited,” said Dikranian.
However, soon after the transplant, Dikranian realized his body wasn’t responding like it should have. Instead of getting back to life, he was back in the hospital.
“It was shocking, it was a surprise, next thought was, ‘What are we doing now? What are we doing to help this,’” said Dikranian.
That’s when Dr. Ioana Dumitru, with Tampa General Hospital, told Dikranian about a new heart pump made by Abiomed called the Impella RP Flex.
She wanted Dikranian to be the first person in Florida to try it.
“This was amazing. We required certainly special approval from the company but also expedited a concerted effort from the entire institution, talking from the CEO, CFO all the way down to the nursing, everybody was mobilized,” said Dr. Dumitru.
Dikranian said he wasn’t worried at all. He liked being at the forefront of the medical field.
“I felt good and just looking around at the doctors like, ‘how we doing, how we doing,’” said Dikranian.
Dikranian was hooked up to the pump for two weeks, maintaining balance in the body and lungs until the heart was able to function as it should, all on its own.
“He’s doing excellent. He is certainly back to his old self,” said Dr. Dumitru.
Dikranian hopes to be an inspiration to others who may find themselves going through similar complications following a transplant.
“I personally feel without this device, I might not be talking to you. I think this device was life-saving. It feels life-saving. I could probably still be here at the hospital and not have left,” said Dikranian.
