Second AbioCor Heart Transplant

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

The softball-sized device was implanted into the chest of a 70-year-old man Thursday morning at Jewish Hospital, according to Abiomed Inc., the device's maker. The first implant was performed at the same hospital.

"The patient is now recovering in the intensive care unit at Jewish Hospital," Abiomed said in a news release.

The surgery was performed by University of Louisville surgeons Laman Gray Jr. and Robert Dowling, who also implanted the 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 company declined to release the name of Thursday's patient, but The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown identified the second patient as Tom Christerson of Central City, Ky.

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 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.

By Bruce Schreiner
© MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed