Developments in Brief : Dog Dies With Heart Pump Made of Muscle

Bruno, a bouncy mutt whose back muscle was transformed into an experimental heart pump, has died after 2 1/2 months with the implant. The dog was part of a University of Pennsylvania research effort to find ways to help people with congestive heart failure.

The dog died Jan. 28 after small blood clots apparently formed in the pump and traveled through arteries to his kidneys, said Dr. Larry Stephenson.

Last November Stephenson’s team used a back muscle, which helps control the shrugging motion, to form a pouch that was electrically stimulated to match the heart’s rhythm and assist in pumping blood. Such a method might carry fewer risks than artificial hearts, which are generally considered temporary devices.

Blood clots have been an obstacle in other attempts to make auxiliary pumps, including the artificial heart. But Stephenson said he is optimistic that the clotting problem can be overcome.

About 10,000 patients are diagnosed annually with irreversible congestive heart failure, a condition in which weak heart muscles are unable to pump blood adequately through the body.