Heart man ‘critical’

Press, 9 December 1982, Page 8

Heart man ‘critical’

NZPA-Reuter Salt Lake City Dr Barney Clark, the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart, was under sedation and in critical condition after suffering a two-hour series of seizures yesterday, a medical spokesman said. Asked if the situation was ominous, the spokesman, Dr Chase Peterson, replied: “It could be ominous.” “There was a tear or two when Dr Clark’s wife, Unaloy, was told of the seizures, but she is as strong as ever,” Dr Peterson said. Dr Clark, a retired Seattle dentist, received his polyurethane and aluminium heart at the centre last Thursday in a 7*i hour operation. The seizures early yester-

day had caused a series of muscle spasms in the lower part of Dr Clark’s body. Dr Peterson said. “He is doing quite well, but he is in a critical condition.” The seizures were the third setback for Dr Clark. Escaping air bubbled from small cuts in his lungs at the week-end and he had tp undergo one-hour surgery to close the cuts. Dr Peterson revealed that Dr Clark, who is 61, had had a minor kidney failure during the last few days. Doctors had X-rayed Dr Clark's brain and artifical heart — connected by two 1.8 metre hoses to an air compressor — after the seizures and both appeared to be working normally, Dr Peterson said. Doctors had earlier feared

that Dr Clark might have had a brain haemorrhage. Tests also had minimised the possibility that the patient had a blood clot. Dr Peterson said. A metabolic or chemical disorder might have led to the seizures. The kidney problem could have caused him to lose magnesium, calcium and zinc, body salts which help the nervous system, he said. Dr Clark could remain under sedation for up to 36 hours while doctors tried to discover what caused the seizures.

Dr Clark was receiving muscle relaxants and had been put back on a breathing respirator, Dr Peterson said. He is being fed chicken soup and ground carrots through a tube.