Artificial heart still years away for most

It may hold promise for patients with no other options, but only time and experience will tell for sure.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. July 30, 2001.

Washington -- The headlines surrounding the new and totally implantable artificial heart may have prompted a number of calls from heart patients to their physicians asking whether the device is suitable for them.

"Anytime there is anything that has gotten this much press, doctors with patients who have heart failure will be asked if an artificial heart is in their future and if so, when," said Sharon Hunt, MD, professor of cardiovascular medicine and director of the post-transplant program at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.

And the response? "I will say to them what I say to my patients about ventricular assist devices: If their disease advances to the point where nothing else can be done medically, it might be an option."

But the artificial heart will be an option only for patients participating in clinical trials for the next several years.

At press time, nearly two weeks after surgery, the unidentified patient who received the first totally implantable artificial heart -- a man in his 50s -- was still, apparently, doing as well as anyone could expect. That progress raises the hopes of heart patients, their families and physicians.

The lengthy operation to install the mechanical heart made by Abiomed Inc., of Danvers, Mass., is expected to be carried out on at least four more patients in this phase-one trial to test the safety of the device. The first operation took place July 2 at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky.

The artificial heart will offer another potential therapeutic option for patients with premature end-stage heart failure, said Timothy Gardner, MD, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. [...]