Baptist Health’s newest cardiothoracic surgeon, Byran Barrus, MD, is utilizing a new minimally invasive procedure he helped develop to implant HeartMate III devices in advanced heart failure patients.
“Instead of implanting HeartMate pumps through a traditional sternotomy, we are now going in between the ribs – one incision on the left side and one on the right side to connect to the heart and aorta,” Barrus said of the technique.
Baptist Health first introduced the HeartMate to Arkansas in 1999. Now in its third generation, the HeartMate III has the ability to assist the performance of the left side of the heart. Implanting a HeartMate III using this new procedure decreases the length of stay between 30 to 50 percent and decreases the chances of death. It also speeds up recovery time from six months to around two months.
“To see patients go home in as little as four days, it’s incredible,” Barrus said.
Barrus recently transferred to Baptist Health from University of Rochester Medical Center/Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he helped develop this technique.
Barrus received a medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine and completed orthopaedic and cardiothoracic residency training at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He is board-certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.