Second Man Ever Receives Artificial Heart Transplant

[Laurel]

Second Man Ever Receives Heart Transplant

http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010913/hl/artificial_heart_84.html


Second Man Receives Artificial Heart
By BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A man was implanted with a self-contained artificial heart Thursday, becoming only the second patient in the world to receive the experimental device.

Tom Christerson, 70, was resting comfortably at Jewish Hospital, spokeswoman Barbara Mackovic said. The first implant was done at the same hospital in early July.

``The patient is now recovering in the intensive care unit at Jewish Hospital,'' Abiomed Inc., the device's maker, said in a news release.

The procedure on Christerson, of Central City, Ky., was performed by University of Louisville surgeons Laman Gray Jr. and Robert Dowling, who also implanted an AbioCor artificial heart in the chest of Robert Tools on July 2.

Tools, 59, was recently removed from intensive care, and his surgeons say the artificial heart has worked flawlessly.

The softball-sized pump has no wires or tubes that stick out of the chest. An internal battery and controller regulate the pumping speed, and an external battery powers the device by passing electricity through the skin.

The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) has approved the experimental device for use in five patients, all dying of heart failure and too sick to qualify for human heart transplants.

Under terms of the FDA approval, the company could proceed with five more operations if the initial five are successful, and then five more after that if things are still going well.

Besides Jewish Hospital, four other medical centers in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Houston are working with Abiomed.

 

[bluntforcemama]

I'm starting to love technology!

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

Most doctors I've spoken to have been pleasantly surprised with the abiocor's function in the first patient. Doctors are a skeptical bunch by nature and the last major effort to make a mechanical heart was a pretty serious failure - the patient had to stay connected to a huge apparatus which would have prevented him from moving around and living anything resembling a normal life even if it had worked well (which of course it didn't).

I did my 5th grade science project in 1985 on the Jarvik-7 artificial heart and my dad helped me make a model of it from pictures in magazines. As a boy, it was a powerful symbol of the incredible potential of human ingenuity to master nature. It's one of the forces that drew me to medicine.

In recent years with all the advances in genetics and immunology though, I figured that the ultimate solution to end-stage heart failure (as well as failure of other organs) was in xenotransplants, transplanted organs from other species but bioengineered such that our immune systems wouldn't recognize the transplant as foreign. I still think that's the best ultimate solution since evolution has designed real hearts far better than we could hope to design artificial ones, but it looks like implantable pumps may well be viable alternatives until we get there. They're relatively small and require only a small external power supply and a patient can even go without the external unit for short periods to bathe. Pretty damn nifty.

It's a good time to be about to become a doctor.

 

[Laurel]

It's amazing what can be done! What a time to be alive.

Ollie - my 5th grade science project involved growing sugar crystals in a jar. lol

 

[xlc67]

Laurel...how is the little kitty with the bad legs doing??? Did you take him to the vet? Have any pics of him? Just read the newsletter...

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

Ollie - my 5th grade science project involved growing sugar crystals in a jar. lol

I did that too! I think that was required along with the mandatory vinegar, baking soda, and red food-coloring volcano.

 

[Laurel]

It's actually a pretty amazing thing (not to hijack my own thread, lol)...I read up on the Net about leg deformities in kittens, and discovered that 1) they're not totally uncommon (though for all 4 legs to be affected is pretty rare), and 2) the kittens often outgrow it. Hiw front legs, which bow out, resembling a tiny horseshoe when he sticks them out together, are likely a genetic defect. His back legs, according to what I've read, are caused by his positioning in his mother's womb.

But I'm very happy to say that the kitty who I found pulling himself in the dirt by his tiny front legs is now a healthy four-legged feline. Yesterday, he spent more time standing on all four legs than he did in hios previous seal-like position - propped up on his forelegs. He runs like a maniac! He's still a bit clumsy, and he hasn't mastered the climbing bit at all (though he's trying).

In other news, we've given him a name - Owen. We've also decided that he belongs here with us. I told myself that Aiko would always be an only child, but Owen's made me eat my words. He adores his older sis. She seems to like him too, though she gets a bit tired of his constant playfulness.

So there you go. I'm setting up a place for kitty pics and such. You'll be shocked when you see the photos of his legs two weeks ago versus now. I'll tell you about where to find pics, etc. in the upcoming newsletter.

Thanks for asking! Owen and Aiko say yo...