Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Who Was the World's First Permanent Artificial Heart Patient?

Do you know who was the world's first permanent artificial heart patient? I did not know until the other day when I surfed the net, I asw an article titled: Obituary: Peter Houghton Obituaries Guardian Unlimited.

Peter Houghton, a Briton who had a severe heart failure, was the world's first patient to be implanted with a Jarvik 2000 heart pump at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England, by Professor Stephen Westaby, on 20 June 2000. 3 years earlier, he had suffered a heart attack triggered by influenza. His heart function had since then deteriorated to 10% of normal and he could barely walk.

Manufactured by New York-based Jarvik Heart Inc., Jarvik 2000 was a thumb-sized pump powered by a cable which ran through his neck and out from behind his ear. A wire ran to a controller and a battery worn on his belt.

At the age of 69, Peter died on November 25, 2007 at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital because of multiple organ malfunctions. According to his neighbor and friend, Peter was a great guy who lived the last 7 years to the full. Peter was a clinical psychologist at the Middlesex hospital London during most of his working life.

It was expected that Peter would have a few weeks to live when he had the operation to implant the battery-powered pump. But he actually lived for 7 years, breaking the previous world duration record on 11 August 2004 at 1,513 days.

He devoted much of his extra life to charity work and became chairman of the Heart Failure Foundation. Peter travelled to America together with his friend and did a tour around the heart centers. He travelled thousands of miles for charity works until his heart began to deteriorate a year ago. According to his friend, he would have lasted longer if he had not been so active.

Read more about the transplant at:
Peter Houghton - How it Began

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