A patient on the brink of death has received the world"s first self-contained artificial heart—a battery powered device about the size of a softball that runs without the need for wires, tubes or hoses sticking out of the chest.
Two surgeons from the University of Louisville implanted the titanium and plastic pump during a seven-hour operation at Jewish Hospital Monday. The hospital said the patient was "awake and responsive" Tuesday and resting comfortably. It refused to release personal details.
The patient had been expected to die within a month without the operation, and doctors said they expected the artificial heart to extend the person"s life by only a month. But the device is considered a major step toward improving the patient"s quality of life.
The new pump, called Abio Cor, is also a technological leap from the mechanical hearts used in the 1980s, which were attached by wires and tubes to bulky machinery outside the body. The most famous of those, the Jarvic-7, used air as a pumping device and was attached to an apparatus about the size of a washing machine.
"I think it"s potentially a major step forward in the artificial heart development," said Dr. David Faxon, president of the American Heart Association. However, he said the dream of an implantable, permanent artificial heart is not yet a reality: "This is obviously an experimental device whose long-term success has to be demonstrated." Only about half of the 4, 200 Americans on a waiting list for donor hearts received them last year, and most of the rest died.
Some doctors, including Robert Higgins, chairman of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, said artificial hearts are unlikely to replace donor hearts.
"A donor heart in a good transplant can last 15 to 30 years," he said. "It"s going to be hard to replace that with a machine."
The Abil Cor has a 2-pound pumping unit, and electronic controls that adjust the pumping speed based on the body"s needs. It is powered by a small battery pack worn outside the body that transmits current through the skin.
单选题
The pump of the first implanted self-contained heart was made of titanium and plastic.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 译文：第一例人工心脏移植的泵是由钛和塑料制成的。
根据文章第二段第一句“two surgeons...titanium and plastic pump”可知，路易斯维尔大学的两位外科医生将钛和塑料的泵植入病人体内，所以题干叙述正确。故本题选A。
单选题
The patient"s life was expected to last several years longer by implanting the artificial heart.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 译文：植入人工心脏后，病人的生命有望维持更长几年的时间。
根据文章第三段第一句后半句“...they expected...person"s life by only a month”可知，医生们表示他们只指望人工心脏能延长病人一个月的生命，所以题干叙述错误。故本题选B。
单选题
There is no difference in structure between the self-contained heart and the mechanical heart.
单选题
The American Heart Association recommended widely using the self-contained heart.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 译文：美国心脏病学会推荐广泛使用整套装在一起的人工心脏。
根据文章第五段第二句“he said the dream...is not yet a reality...obviously an experimental device... ”可知美国心脏病学会主席Faxon博士认为可植入的永久的人工心脏还无法成为现实，整套装在一起的人工心脏只是试验性的装置，能否长期成功还有待证实，所以题干叙述错误。故本题选B。
单选题
Dr. David Faxon believed that the implantable, permanent artificial heart will certainly be developed in the future.
单选题
Approximately two thousand one hundred patients received heart implantation in America last year.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 译文：去年美国有大约2,100位病人接受了心脏移植手术。
根据文章第五段最后一句“only about half of the 4,200 Americans...received... ”可知，等待别人捐献心脏的4,200位病人中大约有一半的人得到捐献，所以题干叙述正确。故本题选A。
单选题
Some doctors doubt the possibility of donor hearts being replaced by artificial ones.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 译文：有些医生认为人工心脏不太可能替代捐献的心脏。
根据文章倒数第二段“a donor heart...be hard to replace that with a machine... ”可知，移植手术非常成功的话，接受捐献心脏的病人能活15至30年，而机器在这一点上很难达到，所以题干叙述正确。故本题选A。