Grandfather Receives UCSF Health's First Total Artificial Heart

Written By Elizabeth Fernandez

Published April 2025

As Hans Oviedo prepared to leave his room after 143 life-altering days in the hospital, he carried farewell cards from his caregivers and a thick instruction manual – for the fully mechanical heart thumping in his chest at 130 beats per minute.

Oviedo was the first patient at UCSF Health to receive a total artificial heart. The system, designed for patients in end-stage heart failure, temporarily replaces both ventricles, serving as a bridge therapy until the patient can have a heart transplant. An implanted pump controls the flow of blood into and out of the heart while a machine outside the body (the "driver") powers the pump.

"It kind of boggles the mind," said Asa Smith, a cardiac intensive care nurse at UCSF who has worked with cardiology patients for more than 20 years. "He has only artificial pieces inside him for his heart. He has no electrical activity, no heart rhythm. I still can't wrap my head around it."

UCSF Health has one of the country's largest heart transplant programs and ranks among the nation's finest hospitals in cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, including as best in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to U.S. News & World Report. Consistently at the forefront of new therapies, UCSF also has the only active advanced heart failure program in Northern California that implants the total artificial heart.

A critical team effort

When 61-year-old Oviedo arrived at UCSF by ambulance on Oct. 16, 2024, he was extremely weak and in cardiogenic shock. Patients in critical condition often have multiple organs failing at the same time, especially the kidneys or lungs. But Oviedo's heart failure was so severe and sudden, it hadn't affected other organs.

Initially, he was placed on mechanical support systems, but those ultimately were insufficient. He needed further intervention.

This is a miracle.

Oviedo's six-hour surgery was performed on Nov. 18th at the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights. During the procedure, his "native" heart was removed and the artificial heart, mimicking the real one, implanted. Inside him now are pliable ventricles that pump blood to the rest of his body.

"Our goal was to support the patient well and to give him the best chance for a heart transplant at a later date," said Dr. Jason W. Smith, the cardiac surgeon who led the operation. More than a dozen providers, including cardiac surgeon Dr. Amy Fiedler, made up the surgical team.

"Everyone contributed," said Dr. Smith, who is also surgical director of the UCSF Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program. "It was the work of the entire team."

Life with an artificial heart

Within 48 hours of the total artificial heart's implantation, Oviedo was doing light exercise on a foot cycle, the start of a long period of rehabilitation.

"You're ready for the Tour de France," joked Breda Cullen, one of his nurses.

Members of Oviedo's family, who run a piano business in Fresno, California, spent months visiting him at the hospital and learning to care for him and the device. For Christmas, they brought him a favorite meal: a tamale and a cup of decaf coffee.

"This is a miracle," said Ana, Oviedo's wife of 36 years with whom he has four children and two grandchildren. "That machine is his life now."

Oviedo has adjusted to his new heart so well that he can now sleep through its mechanical humming. "Emotionally, it is very big," he said. "I depend on this machine."

Nurse Smith says Oviedo has taken the entire experience in stride, a credit to his "fantastic" personality.

"This is a huge life adjustment – the psychological aspects are enormous – but he's come leaps and bounds," Smith added.

At his discharge from the hospital, Oviedo expressed profound gratitude for his care team, including registered nurse Sylvie Baudart, the team's clinical lead.

"I'm so happy to be going home," he said. "But this hospital – these people, the doctors, the nurses, the way they treated me – was so wonderful. I love this place. They are my family now too."

He's also looking forward to the next step of his medical journey: a heart transplant.

"I'm prepared for a real heart," he said. "I told the doctors and nurses, 'If you will be there, I will do it.'"

Photos by Jessica Bernstein-Wax

Hans Oviedo received the first total artificial heart implanted at UCSF. It will keep him healthy until he's able to have a transplant.

Oviedo says his care team at UCSF became like family.

Outside the body, a machine called a driver operates the implanted pump, controlling blood flow into and out of the heart.

Oviedo spent 143 days recovering and undergoing cardiac rehabilitation in the hospital, with his family paying frequent visits from their home in Fresno.