Artificial Heart Implanted: Jarvik Saves Barney Clark
Surgeon William DeVries implanted the Jarvik-7 artificial heart into 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark at the University of Utah Medical Center on December 2, 1982. The seven-hour surgery replaced Clark's failing heart with a pneumatic device connected to a 375-pound external compressor by two air hoses that entered his body through his abdomen. Clark survived 112 days, during which he experienced seizures, nosebleeds, and difficulty breathing, but proved that a human could survive with a mechanical heart. He died of multiple organ failure on March 23, 1983. Four more Jarvik-7 recipients followed, with survival times ranging from 10 to 620 days. The permanent artificial heart program was eventually abandoned in favor of ventricular assist devices and bridge-to-transplant technologies that are now used by thousands of patients annually.
December 2, 1982
44 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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