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Richard Klewans
September 1, 1985



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    On December 2, 1982, for the first time in history, a permanent artificial heart was implanted into a human being.  Dr. William DeVries perfor,ed the surgery on Barney Clark, a retired dentist from the Seattle area.
    Before Barney Clark's operation, on December 2, there was a lot of speculation as to whether he was the correct recipient for the artificial heart.  Certain criteria had to be met before the operation.
    Clark's heart was suffering from cardiomypathy.  This disease causes a progressive weakening of the heart muscle, which eventually leads to congestive heart failure.  There is only one permanent cure for cardiomyopathy.  It is the replacement of the h
ear.  At sixty-one years of age, Clark was eleven years over the usual age limit agreed upon by surgeons for a transplant.

         Last September, Clark visited the University of Utah
         Medical Center to review his only real option:
         a pneumatically powered heart developed there by
         Dr. Robert Jarvik, a medical prodigy who began
         to design his first invention, a surgical
         stapler, at age seventeen.^1*

    Clark went home because his condition was not serious enough yet for surgery.  Over the next couple of months, Clark's heart deteriorated so rapidly that he became bedridden.  On the Saturday before December 2, he was taken to the hospital so he could
 be prepared for the operation on December 2.
    As Clark was being wheeled into the operating room hos heart rate was irregular, his heart was pumping one-fifth the amount of blood it should have, and his condition was deteriorating rapidly.  The lack of oxygen caused his skin to turn blue.
    In the operating room was a team of seventeen doctors, nurses, and tehnicians.  On a tape recorder was playing Ravel's "Bolero".
    DeVries, the main surgeon in the operation, made a nine and one-half inch incision from Clark's breastbone to his abdomem.  Clark was then hoked up to a heart-lung bypass machine, which regulated his heart rate and blood pressure and oxygenated his bl
ood.  They had trouble with the machie during the surgery when it actually stopped pumping blood for almost a minute before technicians could fix it.  In the next seven and one-half hours DeVries removed most of Clark's natural heart and replaced it with 
a polyurathane artificial heart called the Jarvik-7.

         There were some complications during the implant.
         For instance, one of the ventricles appeared
         to be defective.  'There were three different
         things we thought might be involved, and rather
         than take the time to make sure which of the
         three things it was, we fixed tham all at once.
         And that involved replacing a ventricle.  We have
         not yet had time to really evaluate that ventricle
         and find out whether there was anything wrong
         with it or not.^2*

    Clark regained consciousness two and one-half hours later after the operation and said that he was not in any pain.  "Man had made a heart, and it seemed to be working, quietly clicking in Barney Clark's chest as he lay in the intensive care unit."^3
*
    Clark suffered a number of setbacks during the one hundred and twelve days after the operation.  The most serious was a broken heart.  Unfortunately, he suffered many more setbacks than progress.   H. Chase Peterson at the University of Utah Medical C
enter said, "Barney Clark is not an artificial heart patient now.  He is simply a seriously ill post-operative patient who has complications and could have more."^4*
    The first major setback came on the Saturday after theoperation.  While Dr. DeVries was talking to Clark, Clark started to shudder uncontrolably.  He was given a number of injections of tranquillizers to help calm him down.  During the next two and on
e-half hours clark, now unconscious, suffered intermittent seizures, but a quivering was confined to his left leg and arm.  After numerous CAT scans Clark showed no signs of stroke.  His condition had stabilized by Wednesday, and he was able to move his l
eft leg and arm.
    The seizures were thought to be caused by one of three things: hemorrhaging in the brain, clots in the brain vessels or a metabolic imbalance of salts, sugars or antibiotic fluids.
    The next major setback came on December 14 when Clark's blood pressure plunged dangerously low.  This implied that the artifical heart was not working correctly.  Clark was rushed to theoperation room at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt L
ake City, where he had been staying since his implant on December 2.  he was hooked up to a heart-lung bypass machine while doctors examined and worked on his artificial heart.  "Doctors found that the mitral valve was broken.  This valve connected the le
ft ventricle of the artificial heart to Clark's natural left auricle."^5*  The doctors pulled out the faulty left ventricle and replace it with a spare one.  Once again the artificial heart worked perfectly, and Clark's blood pressure went up to normal 
again.
    Barney Clark had many setbacks, but also made great progress.  When he passed away one hundred and twelve days after the operation, it had nothing to do with the heart.  He was so ill that his systems just broke down and eventually stopped.  Clark's w
ife, Una Loy, said that after twenty-five years of smoking, Clark's lungs finally caught up with him and that his lungs were the final cause of death.
    If doctors have gained nothing more than the furthering of their knowledge about this area of medicine, that is perfectly fine.
Endnotes

1.  Claudia Wallis, "Living on Borrowed Time," Time,
    Vol. 120, December 13, 1982, p.72.
2.  J.A. Treichel, "Artificial Heart Makes Medical
    History,"Science News, Vol. 122, December 18, 1982, p.372.
3.  Matt Clark, "An Incredible Affair of the Heart," Newsweek,
    Vol.100, December 13, 1982, p. 70.
4.  Cheryl Crooks, "And the Beat Goes on," Time, Vol. 120,
    December 20, 1982, p.71.
5.  Treichel, p.388.
Bibliography

1.  Clark, Matt. "An Incredible Affair of the Heart." Newsweek,
    Vol. 100, December 13, 1982, pp.70-74.
2.  Clark, Matt. "Clark's Struggle to Recover." Newsweek,
    Vol. 100, December 20, 1982, pp.85-86.
3.  Crooks, Cheryl. "And the Beat Goes On." Time,
    Vol. 120, December 20, 1982, pp.71-72.
4.  Treichel, J.A. "Atrificiial Heart Makes Medical History."
    Science News, Vol. 122, December 11, 1982, p.372.
5.  Treichel, J.A. "Clark Survives Broken Heart." Science News,
    Vol. 122, December 18, 1982, p.388.
6.  Wallis, Claudia. "Living on Borrowed Time.", Vol.120,
    December 13, 1982, pp.72-73.


 
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