U.S. Will End Artificial Heart Research Funds

The National Institutes of Health will stop funding artificial heart research and will focus instead on smaller devices intended to assist rather than replace hearts, according to a report published today.

“While the (artificial heart) device seemed to work well, the biology didn’t work,” said Dr. Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

“The human body just couldn’t seem to tolerate it,” Lenfant said in an interview published in the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal.

The decision means that four institutions awarded contracts last year for artificial heart research will receive only about $1 million of the $5 million each was expecting over the next five years.

Five patients have received permanent artificial hearts. William Schroeder was the longest survivor, living almost two years with the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.

“This is a tremendous setback for scientific advancement in the field,” said Dr. Donald Olsen, head of artificial heart research at the University of Utah, which had received one of the contracts.

10-Year Delay Seen

He said the decision will set back development of a permanent artificial heart for more than 10 years.

“This does not mean the end of the artificial heart program. It means we are taking a different approach. It may take somewhat longer, but it may also help us develop a device that works better,” Lenfant said.

Barney Clark became the first recipient of an artificial heart Dec. 2, 1982, in surgery performed at the University of Utah by Dr. William DeVries. He died the following March.

All of the patients, however, experienced severe complications, including strokes.