First artificial heart patient dies:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The first recipient of Abiomed's totally implantable artificial heart, AbioCor, has died nearly five months after receiving the device. The patient's death followed severe abdominal bleeding and was not caused by malfunction of the device, according to his physician, Dr Robert Dowling, of the Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to his implant, the patient was not expected to live for more than 30 days. Abiomed, of Danvers, Massachusetts, recently gained US FDA go-ahead to continue with its AbioCor clinical trial (see Clinica No 986, p 20).