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Historical Perspective


Nature Medicine 9, 108 - 111 (2003)
doi:10.1038/nm0103-108

The total artificial heart

Denton A. Cooley1


Over the past 50 years, significant advances have been made in the development of total artificial hearts (TAH). These advances have most recently led to a clinical trial of a unique, transcutaneously powered TAH.


Until the first human cardiac transplant was performed in December 1967 (ref. 1), the likelihood of successful human cardiac substitution seemed extremely remote, despite a few successful short-term, experimental studies in mammals (mainly dogs and calves).

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