I read the article entitled ”This may be death knell for the heart transplant program” in the Aug. 10, issue of The Tribune. I believe the article was mistitled and that a more appropriate title would have been ”This may be the death knell for the artificial heart program.” Are you aware that artificial hearts and transplanted organs are totally different entities? A heart transplant is an anonymous gift from a brain dead organ donor. It is living tissue. An artificial heart is a mechanical device.
There has been tremendous success with heart transplants, with greater than 85 percent one-year survival rates, and the majority of patients leading useful, productive, high-quality lives. Several of our patients have returned to work or school and are raising families. The experience with permanent artificial hearts has very little effect, if any, on such a successful heart transplant program. In the field of heart transplant, occasionally artificial hearts have been used successfully as a ”bridge” between end-stage heart disease and organ transplant.
I feel the title of your article was very unfair to heart transplantation. After reading your article, I found it had nothing to do with heart transplant, and that it had been inappropriately titled.
