HOUSTON, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The third patient in the world to receive the AbioCor mechanical heart was reported in stable condition Thursday at a Houston hospital.
Dr. O.H. Frazier removed the man's dying heart and replaced it with the battery-powered device during a six-hour operation Wednesday at the Texas Heart Institute and St. Luke's Episcopal. The man's identity may be revealed at a Friday news conference.
A hospital spokesman said Thursday the patient remains in stable condition.
Surgeons at the University of Louisville implanted the first AbioCor hearts on July 2 and Sept. 13 at Jewish Hospital in Kentucky. The first patient, Bob Tools, is gaining weight and making trips outside the hospital. The second, Tom Christerson, is still in the early stages of recovery.
The Abicor heart, powered through the skin by an external battery pack, is constructed from plastic and titanium. The heart was manufactured by Abiomed Inc., of Danvers, Mass.
Frazier helped develop the heart, which is intended for patients with end-stage heart failure who have more than a 70 percent chance of dying within a month. Candidates are people who are not eligible for donor hearts and those who cannot be help by other treatment.
The Houston patient had been "desperately ill for a long time," Frazier told the Houston Chronicle. He said the man was not a candidate for a transplant because of complications involving his lungs. If the patient improves, he might be considered again for a transplant.
