62-Year-Old to Be Fifth Artificial Heart Recipient

A 62-year-old railroad engineer who suffered a near-fatal heart attack will receive an artificial heart Sunday at Humana Hospital Audubon, a spokeswoman announced today.

Jack C. Burcham of Le Roy, Ill., will become the third person to receive a permanent implant of a Jarvik-7 at Humana and the fifth worldwide, the spokeswoman said.

Burcham, who was taken to Audubon about 10 days ago, nearly died of a heart attack in October, Dr. William DeVries said Wednesday while in Washington for a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

DeVries, who performed two similar implants at Humana, is the only U.S. surgeon authorized to implant the Jarvik-7.

Burcham isn’t eligible for a human heart transplant because most medical centers won’t perform transplants on patients older than 55.

Beverly Burcham, the patient’s daughter-in-law, reached by telephone in Le Roy, said the family was instructed not to comment. She would not say who gave the instruction.

Burcham was admitted for tests at St. Joseph Hospital in Bloomington, Ill., before being transferred to Audubon. Rita Crouch, his sister, said doctors told him that his health probably would never improve.

Crouch, who lives in Tyler, Tex., said Burcham had to sit under an oxygen tent in December when he returned home from a hospital.