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July 04, 2002 Electric Pump in Heart A patient of Coronary Heart Disease has been implanted a permanent electric pump in the heart. Peter Houghton (61) has this problem and his heart was only pumping at tenth of its potential after a heart attach three years ago. He had heart failure and was told by his doctors that he has only six weeks to live when he volunteered to have the thumb-sized device inserted into his left ventricular wall . After about 6 weeks the symptoms of heart failure had disappeared. His kidneys also started working more efficiently. His ability to exercise had also drastically improved. Before the operation, on June 20, walking 10 yards made him breathless. Now he strides out for two miles each day. The cardiac surgeon Stephen Westaby who operated on the patient at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital is very exited from the out come. He says that within 10 years, the pump could be as common as pacemakers. The pump was inserted in Mr. Peter Houghton's heart, with a fine electric wire threaded through the chest to the neck, where a titanium button was screwed into the skull. The pump is run by batteries and a controller, both the size of a portable phone., which are carried on a belt. A wire connects these to the titanium button, protruding from behind the ear. The operation is revolutionary because , while three Jarvik 2000 pumps have been inserted as an aid for patients awaiting heart transplant. But this is the first time that one has been intended to be used permanently.
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