Artificial heart is mechanical first

Only patients likely to die within a month will be offered the new heart

An American patient has received the world's first self-contained, mechanical, total heart replacement.

The patient, who has not been named, is said to be "resting comfortably" after the groundbreaking seven-hour operation at the Jewish Hospital, in Louisville.

This is the first time this has ever been done. The heart is totally internal

Kathy Keadle, Jewish Hospital

Surgeons from the University of Louisville gave the patient, who had been on the brink of death, the titanium and plastic pump on Monday.

The device, known as AbioCor, is designed to give patients a new, although currently limited, lease of life.

But doctors hope it will eventually lead to new hope for the thousands of patients with failing hearts.

Kathy Keadle, a spokeswoman at the Jewish Hospital, said: "This is the first time this has ever been done. The heart is totally internal."

New technology

The AbioCor is a 1kg electric-powered pump designed specifically for patients whose own hearts have been damaged by disease or heart attacks.

Unlike the old artificial hearts of two decades ago, it has no wires or tubes sticking through the skin. This reduces the potential risk of infection.

The device is powered by an external battery

Power is sent from a battery pack worn outside the body through the skin to an implanted coil, control package and backup battery.

The surgeons who carried out the operation trained by implanting grapefruit sized devices into calves.

All the patients selected to receive the heart must have a chronic, progressive heart disease, which is expected to cause their death within 30 days.

They must also be ineligible for heart transplantation.

The device is initially intended to double their lifespan to 60 days.

Abiomed, the company which makes AbioCor, has been given permission to carry out at least five human trials with the artificial heart, with the provision to do more if the experiments are successful.

Failures

Dr Laman Gray said only the sickest patients would be considered at present

David Lederman, president and chief executive of Abiomed, said: "Every patient will probably die on the Abiocor. We need to understand that, with this new technology, we may have failures."

But he said a second goal would be to evaluate how the mobile mechanical hearts affected the quality of life of those patients who were so ill that many of them could not walk or even get themselves dressed.

Lead surgeon Dr Laman Gray said: "We're only going to put it in the sickest patients initially until we can prove that it works and find out more about the device."

Great potential

But Dr Hilleo Laks, of the University of California, told the BBC that if trials proved successful the device could transform people's lives

He said: "If it fulfils its promise people will be able to engage in full exercise and activities and will not be tethered down by an external machine that does the pumping."

Five hospitals throughout the States have been approved as sites for implanting the AbiCor.

Professor Sir Charles George, medical director for the British Heart Foundation, said: "This is one of several approaches to replace a severely diseased heart.

"This latest device used in the US is an improvement on its predecessors. It is self-sufficient and has few external elements that might be visible or uncomfortable for the patient.

"However, this type of treatment is only a temporary measure and cannot replace a heart transplant from a donor.

"This further stresses the importance of people carrying organ donation cards and making their wishes known to loved ones."