I was reading about various things that happened in 2022 and one event that happened near here had slipped my mind — in January the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a pig’s heart into a human. Unfortunately the man only survived a couple of months. The doctors said he died of heart failure due to several factors, but not organ rejection and they called the trial operation a success.
Well, that got me to thinking about the progress that’s been made in heart transplants in just the last 40 years.
The first artificial heart for humans was invented and patented in the 1950s, it wasn’t until 1982 that a working artificial heart — the Jarvik-7, was successfully implanted in a human patient.
It’s interesting that the first patented artificial heart was invented by Paul Winchell. If you’re old enough, you remember him as ventriloquist and comedian. But he did have some medical training and he was assisted with his invention by Henry Heimlich, who is known for the emergency choking treatment that bears his name. Paul Winchell’s invention was never actually put into use.
The Jarvik-7 was developed by an American doctor and scientist, Robert Jarvik, and was the first artificial heart intended to last a lifetime.
In December of 1982 — 40 years ago — Dr. Barney Clark received the world’s first permanent artificial heart (the Jarvik-7.) The transplant operation was performed by surgeon William DeVries at the University of Utah Hospital. The artificial heart implanted in Dr. Clark was connected to a 400-pound air compressor that would accompany him for the rest of his life. Dr. Barney Clark lived 112 days after the implant.
Dr. Clark was a dentist and a “tough old guy” from Seattle — at the time he was hailed as a hero. He left behind a legacy with his willingness to pioneer that new device and furthered research into mechanical hearts.
Subsequent iterations of artificial hearts have seen further success — the second patient to receive the Jarvik-7 lived for 620 days. Even with all the advances, less than two thousand artificial hearts have been implanted and the procedure is usually used as a stop-gap measure until a donor heart can be secured. But research and progress goes on — Dr. Jarvik is quoted as saying, “The artificial heart is very effective as a bridge to transplant, but the number of people that can be saved with human hearts is limited. A perfect artificial heart could save many more patients.”
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