Heart Device Patient Has Bleeding in Brain
From Times Wire Reports
The first recipient of a self-contained mechanical heart has suffered bleeding in his brain this week after a major stroke last week that left him partially paralyzed, the maker of the device said in Chicago.
Robert Tools, the 59-year-old patient who three months ago was implanted with the plastic-and-titanium device, is less responsive than he had been after the stroke, said Ed Berger, a spokesman for Abiomed Inc., the Danvers, Mass., maker of the artificial heart known as the AbioCor.
Before the stroke, Tools’ recovery had far surpassed the expectations of his doctors at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky. At the time of the surgery on July 2, he had a life expectancy of less than 30 days.
