UofL physicians implant groundbreaking artificial heart
Drs. Laman Gray and Robert Dowling are the first surgeons in the world to implant the AbioCor in a human patient.
A Jewish Hospital clinical team led by University of Louisville surgeons Dr. Laman Gray Jr. and Dr. Robert Dowling made medical history July 2 when they successfully implanted the world's first self-contained artificial heart in the chest of a male patient.
The AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart, developed by the Danvers, Mass.-based ABIOMED Inc., differs from previous artificial pumps in that it is fully implantable, with no tubes or wires protruding through the recipient's skin. The heart is powered by internal batteries that can be recharged using a coil which transfers energy across the skin.
The experimental seven-hour surgery, which received extensive national and international media coverage, was performed with a team of 14 nurses, perfusionists, physician assistants, anesthesiologists and other support staff.
It was the result of more than 20 years' product research by ABIOMED and a three-year partnership with the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital, where pre-clinical in-vivo device research was performed.
"While we are very pleased so far with this first implant and are hopeful for our patient's recovery, it is important to remember that this is the first chapter of many volumes that we have still to learn about the use of these devices in humans," said Gray, co-principal investigator for the Jewish Hospital-University of Louisville AbioCor research team and a professor of surgery at the University of Louisville.
"As with any innovative development, we must master walking before we learn to run."
The initial patients eligible to receive an AbioCor device are those who are not eligible for a heart transplant and who are determined to have less than a 30-day life expectancy. In short, Gray explained, "These patients are the sickest of the sick. They will die in a very short time without some kind of intervention. These patients and their families understand the risks of the surgery, and the risks of no further intervention."
In fact, medical team members view the first patient as a medical pioneer and credit his family for its support. While the critically ill patient and family did receive an intense education about the device and the risks of its implantation, "it takes a great deal of courage to agree to to take a step that no one else has ever taken," Gray continued.
Dowling, co-principal investigator for the Jewish Hospital-University of Louisville AbioCor research team and an associate professor of surgery at UofL, noted than only about 2,000 heart transplants are performed each year, largely because there aren't enough organs to meet demand.
"Once heart failure patients have reached maximum medical management of heart failure, their only potential option until now was a heart transplant," Dowling continued.
Now, however, replacement hearts like the AbioCor might benefit up to 100,000 people annually once the technology is clinically demonstrated, he said.
Jewish Hospital is among five medical centers around the country approved by the FDA to implant the AbioCor.
University of Louisville surgeons have performed many heart care "firsts" at Jewish Hospital, including Kentucky's first heart transplant, the world's first heart transplant following the use of a Thoratec bi-ventricular assist device, the world's first endoscopic saphenous vein harvest and the first ventricular remodeling in the region.
