Heart of Queensland: How our cattle are saving lives all over the world
By staff writer
Queensland cattle are saving human lives by providing tissue for heart valve procedures in hospitals in more than 100 countries.
The “paddock to patient” operation involves flying bovine heart tissue reared at southeast Queensland cattle farms from Brisbane to California in a precision supply chain that must take no longer than 96 hours from start to finish.
US-based company Edwards Lifesciences has put more than 100,000 batches of the pericardium heart tissue on flights from Australia since early 2020, working closely with the Australian Government to ensure operations continued through lockdowns and border closures, both national and state, during COVID-19.
Edwards uses delicate tissue from the sac that sits around cattle hearts, which would otherwise be discarded in the slaughter process.
The pericardium tissue is used in the manufacture of transcatheter aortic valves to treat aortic stenosis, a common condition where calcium build up narrows the opening of the aortic valve in the heart.
When a person’s aortic valve does not open fully it reduces or blocks blood flow from the heart into the main artery, the aorta.
Left untreated, the condition can cause fainting, chest pain, shortness of breath, and result in death.
Due to the 96-hour expiry period of the fresh bovine tissue, Edwards has been accessing the government’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism to get the Queensland product to its production facility in Irvine, California.
Edwards Lifesciences Managing Director for ANZ and Korea, Pat Williams told The Queenslander: “The IFAM flights helped keep open the supply chain of our tissue between Queensland and the US during what has been a challenging time due to border restrictions caused by the pandemic.”
“We have been able to continue sending bovine tissue from Brisbane to Irvine, where they are manufactured into life-saving heart valves and sent to patients all over the world,” Mr Williams said.
The tissue used in the valve is produced in productive grazing areas like Oakey and Kilcoy.
The herds are responsible for about 100,000 new valves a year.
The animals used to produce the tissue must be under 24 months of age and very healthy.
Australian Country Choice is a fourth-generation, privately-owned beef and food processing company that processes the tissue for Edwards.
ACC chief executive Anthony Lee said his company was the first supplier to Edwards Lifesciences and has since diversified to supply product to other medical markets.
“ACC is in a geographic sweet spot for this important export trade,” he said.
“We breed healthy, quality cattle, we have dependable supply chains and our proximity to Brisbane airport ensures timely delivery of a premium product.”
