(Circulation. 2001;103:e9015.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
A 2-chambered artificial heart has received federal approval to undergo clinical tests as a permanent implant in patients who are not candidates for a heart transplant. The heart’s use was approved for only 5 people in this first test.
Made by Massachusetts-based Abiomed, Inc, the 2-chambered AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart is said to be quieter than earlier artificial organs, and it is expected to be extremely durable. Unlike earlier forms of artificial hearts, this one requires that no wires pass through the skin, thus reducing the risk of infection. The power for the heart will be transmitted across the skin to a rechargeable internal battery. An external power unit that transmits the power to the heart is worn at the waist.
The 2-pound device (twice the size of a normal heart) has 2 pumping chambers and responds to the body’s needs, pumping faster when exertion requires more blood. Unlike ventricular assist devices, this heart is designed to replace the patient’s heart. According to O.H. Frazier, MD, chief of cardiovascular transplantation at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston (one of the sites at which the artificial heart will be used), the AbioCor improves on the engineering in the Jarvik-7 artificial heart used in the early 1980s. When that device was used in several patients, starting with Barney Clark in Utah, it maintained life for a while, but the patients suffered a series of debilitating strokes and eventually died.
Dr Frazier told the Houston
Chronicle that he has implanted the AbioCor device