Brigham team implants artificial heart
A 66-year-old former teacher and track coach reports he “feels great” with his artificial heart, which was implanted at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In February, Holbrook, Mass., resident Jim Carelli Jr. became the first person in New England to receive an entirely artificial heart during an eight-hour surgery led by Gregory Couper, surgical director of the Brigham’s Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program and an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. Carelli was one of 7 million people in the United States who suffer from heart failure, a condition where the heart enlarges and weakens. This causes poor circulation, shortness of breath, and fatigue, making physical activity difficult. Reduced blood flow to vital organs can cause them to fail and lead to fluid accumulation in the legs due to poor kidney function. Carelli suffered from a rare form of heart failure, cardiac amyloidosis, which, because it affects both sides...