Heart Disease In The News

Clinical trial of new artificial heart expected to start soon
January 10, 2001     

A new self-contained artificial heart is expected to begin clinical trials this spring.  The new artificial heart, called the AbioCor and developed by Abiomed, Inc., is a plastic and titanium device about the size of a grapefruit.  It consists of a motor, two pumping chambers (one to perform the function of the right ventricle, and one to perform the function of the left), and rechargeable batteries.  It does not require tubes or cables to exit the skin.

Company spokesmen say that Abiomed has applied to the FDA to begin trials the second quarter of 2001.  They have applied to implant the AbioCor in 10 patients with severe heart disease.  While ventricular assist devices have been in clinical use for several years (pumps that supplement the function of a diseased ventricle), an attempt at implanting a fully artificial heart has not been made since 1982, with the Jarvik heart.

This device ultimately is aimed at patients with end-stage heart failure, who otherwise would be candidates for cardiac transplantation.  While over 100,000 patients a year die in the U.S. with end-stage heart failure, because of a limited donor pool only 2000 cardiac transplantations are performed per year.

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