March 23, 2011) -- Doctors at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) have successfully implanted the first continuous-flow device that mimics what might be considered a total artificial heart in a desperately ill patient facing imminent death. Because the implanted pumps provide the blood flow that the sick heart cannot, they act as a total artificial heart.
On March 10, 2011, Drs. Bud Frazier and Billy Cohn implanted the 2 approved devices into 55-year-old Houstonian Craig A. Lewis. These devices were used in a last attempt to save his life. View the press conference.
