Longest-Living AbioCor Heart Recipient Dies After 17 Months

The longest-living recipient of an AbioCor artificial heart, Tom Christerson, died nearly 17 months after the plastic-and-titanium device was implanted in his chest.

Christerson, 71, was too sick for a heart transplant and was given little chance of surviving one month when he became the second recipient of the AbioCor heart on September 13, 2001, at Jewish Hospital in Louisville.

"I didn't have any idea it would last this long," Christerson said in September just before his first anniversary.

The AbioCor has now been implanted in a total of nine persons in the United States, five at Jewish Hospital. Two recipients of the device who had their surgeries last month remain alive.

Other Sources: AbioCor