Heart transplant procedures undergo amazing changes, extending patients' lives

Shelo Florestal was one of those heart patients who benefitted from advancements in transplant procedures

MONTREAL -- About 40 heart transplant procedures are performed in Quebec every year, leaving many more patients languishing on the waiting list.

Some die waiting for their new heart, but some amazing changes to medical technology in the field of heart transplant procedures over the past decade have given patients more hope for the future.

Sunday marks World Heart Day, a good time to take a peek at advancements in heart transplants – some made right here in Montreal.

Shelo Florestal was one of those patients who benefitted from those advancements.

A personal trainer now opening his own fitness centre in Ile-Bizard, today he's the picture of good health. But five years ago, he was facing a life-threatening condition.

“I was at the hospital. I didn't see my friends. I didn't want anybody to know my sickness, because I was a bit ashamed as a personal trainer to have a heart problem,” said Florestal.

Diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, his heart was enlarged and not pumping enough blood. He would need a transplant to survive.

Florestal was referred to the heart transplant program at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital, but as he waited for a new organ, his kidneys and liver began to fail.

Dr. Renzo Cecere, director of the MUHC mechanical heart program, implanted a mechanical heart called an axial flow device in Florestal, which not only kept him alive, but made him stronger.

“It buys us time. It offers us the ability to stabilize patients with their cardiomyopathies, (who are typically) deteriorating while they're on heart transplant wait lists,” said Cecere.

The Royal Victoria was the first hospital in Canada to use this technology seven years ago. For Florestal, it helped give him the time he needed to wait for a transplant.

“Transplant makes a difference. It can change a life and people with transplants can live really well like Shelo does,” said Dr. Nadia Gianetti of the MUHC heart failure / heart transplant program.

Florestal’s wife Pam Morneault said the transplant gave their family new life.

“At the same time as I'm grateful, I'm sad, because somebody else had to have a loss. That's the flip side,” she said.

It's been two years since Florestal had his heart transplant and says he’s never felt better. He credits the hospital transplant program for his vitality – and his survival to his family.

“At that time, I had so much support from my kids and my wife, so I think that's what kept me alive,” he said.