He realized that with a first one, a lot can go wrong. was planning to implant someone they were looking for the right candidate.Īnderson told DeVries about Clark, a man he recalls as "sophisticated medically and willing to be a guinea pig." Anderson sent Clark to see DeVries, and Clark's journey into history began. They chatted about the U's artificial heart program. fieldhouse, where he and DeVries had each been working out. That worked for a couple of years, then Clark began to fail rapidly.Ībout that time, Anderson had what he now calls a "key encounter in a hot tub" at the U. So Anderson managed his heart disease with medical therapy and clinical trials, "the latest and greatest at the time," he says today. He was over 60 and had other medical problems. Initially, Clark was not a candidate for a human heart transplant. LDS was just starting up a heart transplant program. He consulted a young doctor at LDS Hospital, Jeffrey Anderson, now associate chief of cardiology at Intermountain Medical Center. He'd married UnaLoy Mason and they had three grown children, Stephen, Gary and Karen. Many of the biggest names in heart repair - mechanical and medicinal - will gather Friday and Saturday to compare notes, celebrate Clark's legacy and discuss the future of cardiovascular treatment in a world where heart disease is the leading cause of death.īarney Clark was born and educated in Provo, a Utah boy who moved to Seattle to study dentistry and stayed until the failure of his heart brought him back to seek care, first at LDS Hospital and later in the U.'s artificial heart program. officials and the Utah Artificial Heart Institute will host a two-day symposium at Huntsman Cancer Institute to mark the milestone. William DeVries, implanted the Jarvik-7 artificial heart in the failing body of the Seattle dentist, so the anniversary is a fitting time to look at what led to the groundbreaking surgery and what has followed. 1, 1982 - as the first human to receive a total artificial heart, with FDA approval.Ī quarter century has passed since a University of Utah team, led by Dr. * Other artificial heart implants had been performed only to sustain life untill a doner heart could be implanted.Countless calves and sheep, pounds of plastic and Dacron, miles of tubing, a hot tub and hundreds of bright minds and willing hands figuratively lined the road on which Barney Clark made his journey into medical history on Dec. Clark's Death, Barney Clark Takes One for the Team SynCardia, 25th Anniversary Video ''It became obvious that the artificial heart could not support the rest of the body as it died, and it was obvious that the circulatory collapse was essentially exactly that - death of the entire being except for the artificial heart.''īarney Clark survieved for 112 Days. When his brain finally stopped funtioning and Barney was declared "brain dead", 'The Key Was Turned Off'.ĭr. Days turned into weeks then months as he continue to struggle to the extent that on several occasions Barney asked to be allowed to die. Kolff at the University of Utah.Įxpected post operative problems were many: A colon infection, kidney and lung problems, drifting in and out of consciousness and cronic clotting which caused strokes. William DeVries under the supervision of Willem J. Clark (born Januin Provo, Utah) became the *1st human to receive a totally artificial heart to sustain him for the rest of his life. But with only hours to live, Barney and his wife Una Loy volunteered not only for Barney, but also in the interest of advancement of medical science so others may benefit from what was to be learned. He also knew that the survival rate was virtually nil. Clark understood the pumonary infection problems with the device along with being tethered to a large external compressor. The FDA had recently approved the new Jarvik 7 artificial heart for human implantation. Barney Clark, a 61 year old dentist from Seattle suffering from extreme congestive heart failure so severe that a normal heart transplant was not an option.
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