How is it possible to live without a human heart? For one man, a fatal heart condition was rapidly taking over his life, so he decided to take some serious help from science and technology to help stay alive.
The man, a 55-year-old named Craig Lewis, was suffering from a condition called amyloidosis, which causes rapid failure of the heart, kidneys and liver. It is likely that he would have died within days without medical intervention, so Lewis went to the Texas Heart Institute and met with Dr. Billy Cohn and Dr. Bud Frazier, both experienced surgeons and innovators in the field of vascular health.
The two doctors teamed up and created a new device that could be implanted in place of the human heart and had a successful implantation surgery in one day. According to this article, the doctors called the device “a “continuous flow” device which would allow blood to circulate throughout his body without a pulse. They removed Mr Lewis’ heart and then installed the device -the patient was up, well and speaking with physicians the very same day.”
The new “heart” was a great success; unfortunately, it did not prevent Lewis’ liver and kidneys from failing. His family ultimately asked to have the decide unplugged before Lewis succumbed to his amyloidosis.
You can read more about his story here, or watch “Heart Stops Beating,” a video documenting the science and history behind Lewis’ mechanical heart.
