Penn State Artificial Heart Recipient ‘Doing Fine’

The first recipient of the Penn State artificial heart said Saturday that the medical team did “a hell of a job” as he spoke to his doctors and family in his first full day of life with the device beating in his chest.

“Between you guys and the man upstairs, I’m doing fine,” Anthony Mandia said.

Mandia, 44, complained of mild pain from the incision but was doing “remarkably well” at Hershey Medical Center, said Dr. John W. Burnside, hospital spokesman.

Mandia, a Philadelphia bachelor who was near death when surgeons decided to implant the one-pound, plastic, air-driven device, was taken off a respirator Saturday afternoon and a breathing tube was removed from his throat.

He was talking freely, his head was elevated and he drank some fluids, Burnside said.

The Penn State heart, named after the hospital’s affiliated university, will stay in Mandia until a suitable human donor heart can be found, possibly within a week or so, Burnside said.

Mandia has been taken off the urgent list for a donor heart because he is in no immediate danger. Doctors want to wait at least 72 hours after implanting the artificial pump before inserting a natural organ to give his body time to recover.

“At the moment, it’s on hold until we’ve passed the 72-hour point,” Burnside said. “At that point we’ll reassess the situation.”

If infection or other complications further delay a transplant, the artificial heart can remain in Mandia indefinitely, Burnside has said.

Burnside said doctors could see no evidence of bleeding or other complications that have plagued recipients of other artificial hearts.

Mandia’s relatives told reporters Saturday that they had initially resisted the idea of an artificial heart implant, but changed their minds Thursday when they realized there was no other option.

Mandia was told after he suffered heart failure in March that he was a likely candidate for a transplant.