A Washington man is the first person in the Pacific Northwest to willingly receive a heart from a donor with hepatitis C and be cured of the disease.
Kerry Hayes, from Anacortes, was born with a heart murmur due to a defect in his aortic valve, reported The Seattle Times.
His health slowly declined, resulting in four open-heart surgeries alone and the implantation of an artificial heart in 2017.
Hayes, 49, thought he would have to live with the artificial heart for the rest of his life until doctors at UW Medical Center in Seattle approached him with an unusual alternative.
Surgeons would implant heart from a donor infected with hepatitis C and, after the procedure, they would treat the disease with an eight-week antiviral regimen to cure him.
Kerry Hayes, 49 (pictured), from Anacortes, Washington, was born with a heart murmur due to a defect in his aortic valve
He had his first of four open-heart surgeries when he was 28 and was implanted with an artificial heart in 2017. In June 2018, doctors discussed with Hayes the possibility of receiving a donor heart that was infected with hepatitis C. Pictured: Hayes in the hospital with his wife in December 2017, left, and in the hospital in February 2017, right
The novel approach seemed like a breakthrough for Hayes, who has battled heart woes for 20 years.
Hayes was 28 years old when he had his first open-heart surgery.
In early 2017, his heart began failing so doctors implanted a total artificial heart until a suitable donor could be found.
The device circulates blood from the heart to the lungs and rest of the body and is controlled by an external machine.
Hayes said he was grateful to be alive but disliked being hooked to a machine 24/7.
'It takes a lot of mental strength to live that way. Your whole body pulsates with artificial heart,' he said in an interview with UW Medicine.
'It's in your ears. It's loud inside and out. And I was starting to get to a point where I was getting worried about still having my job and my health insurance.'
In June 2018, doctors discussed with Hayes the possibility of receiving a donor heart that was infected with hepatitis C.
Hep C is a liver disease spread through blood-to-blood contact such as sharing needles, razors and toothbrushes and can be passed on at birth by infected mothers.
Hayes agreed to the protocol and, in July 2018, he received the donor heart. Two weeks later he was infected hepatitis C. Pictured: Hayes with his wife in December 2017, left, and in October 2018, right
