UofL Health-Jewish Hospital team is second in U.S. to implant a new type of artificial heart; Indiana man 'doing well' after 5 days

The University of Louisville announced Wednesday that UofL Health-Jewish Hospital had implanted a new type of artificial heart in a Southern Indiana man, making it the second U.S. hospital to implant the French-made device.

Mark Slaughter, M.D. (University of Louisville photo)

The heart was implanted Aug. 20 by a surgical team led by Dr. Mark Slaughter, the lead cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital and chair of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery in the U of L School of Medicine. "The recipient, whose identity is being withheld upon request . . . is doing well," a U of L news release said.

The Aeson heart "serves as a bridge to transplant for patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure – heart disease affecting both left and right sides of the heart – allowing more time for the patient to receive a permanent heart organ transplant," the release said. "The new device is designed to solve the limitations of left-ventricular assist devices, which pump blood in just one chamber, by pumping blood in both heart chambers."

It also has sensors that detect blood pressure and position and adapt blood output accordingly, and has an external power supply, the release said: "The device is medically approved in Europe, where approximately 20 devices have been implanted. The first Aeson artificial heart in North America was implanted in July at Duke University," in a 39-year-old man from North Carolina.

The release noted past pioneering cardiac efforts at U of L and Jewish, which the university took over in 2019 "to preserve its storied organ-transplant program," notes Deborah Yetter of the Courier Journal. "On July 2, 2001, U of L cardiothoracic surgeon Laman Gray led the surgical team that implanted the first self-contained artificial heart in the United States at Jewish Hospital," the release said. "The AbioCor artificial heart was implanted into Robert Tools, who lived five months on the device. The UofL surgical team also performed the first heart transplant in Kentucky at Jewish Hospital in 1984."