JERUSALEM (JTA) — An artificial heart was permanently implanted in a patient in Israel for the first time.
The operation on a 63-year-old cardiac patient, who also was in organ failure, occurred over the weekend at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petach Tikvah, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Mechanical heart transplant expert Dr. Jack Copeland of the University of California, San Diego came to Israel to help with the transplant, the newspaper reported.
Until now, artificial hearts have been used in Israel to help a damaged heart continue to pump until a donor organ could be located. The hospital is still searching for a human heart for the patient.
