Rhonda Rowland: Artificial heart recipient has exceeded expectations

CNN Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland

CNN Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland is in Louisville, Kentucky, where 59-year-old Robert Tools broke his silence more than two months after he received the first ever fully contained artificial heart. He said he had no regrets: "I had a choice to sit at home and die, or come here and take a chance."

Q: How remarkable do doctors consider his progress, and what dangers lie ahead?

A: Doctors say so far Robert Tools' progress has exceeded expectations. Before the operation, he had only a 1-in-5 chance of living until the end of July. So he essentially has already extended his lifespan.

Doctors are encouraged because he continues to improve. He's putting on weight, and that's important because he was malnourished when he came in. Also they have seen improvements in his kidney function. Despite a few medical setbacks, such as bleeding or being put off-and-on a ventilator, he continues to improve.

There are still a number of potential dangers. The patients' outlook could change tomorrow because there are so many unknowns. The patient signed a 15-page consent form that describes 20 areas of possible risks that could put him in danger and also cause death. From the outset, the doctors predicted that the patients involved in the study will die on the device. Although they cannot tell Mr. Tools how long he might survive on the device, it's their hope that he can live at least a year.

Q: How is his quality of life after the surgery compared to before?

A: The doctors told us he felt better as soon as he woke up from the operation. Before the surgery, he could barely lift his head off a pillow. The recovery Mr. Tools has made so far has been described as miraculous. The functioning of all his vital organs has returned to normal. And the doctors are very optimistic.

Q: What are the implications for the future of this procedure?

A: The investigators are monitoring how the first patient is doing and the FDA has given permission for a total of five patients to officially be implanted with the AbioCor artificial heart. Depending on how these patients do after 60 days will determine if the study can be expanded to include a total of 15 patients. It's too early to predict if the AbioCor device will become a part of routine medicine.

Q: What's Mr. Tools' background?

A: We know that he was living in Denver and he had worked as a schoolteacher at one time. He left Denver because the altitude was troublesome for his heart condition. He moved to Franklin, Kentucky. to be near major heart centers. He's been described by his doctors as highly educated and informed. He is a very private man and has not revealed information about his family yet.

It was his hope that he could receive a heart transplant. Doctors in Nashville, Tennessee., told him he did not qualify for one.

Even though he exhausted all of his medical options, he held out hope that something else would come along. He read about the AbioCor heart and asked his doctors about it. He was then referred to Jewish Hospital in Louisville.

The doctors have said other patients have come forward wanting to participate in the trial, but were excluded because they were not sick enough.

Q: How did he get to this point of needing this surgery?

A: We know that he has had multiple heart attacks. His condition has been complicated by diabetes and he had exhausted typical treatment such as angioplasty and bypass surgery. Medications were no longer helping the heart failure he developed.

They have not told us how many patients they screened before selecting him, but have said they screened a number of people here in Louisville, as well as at four other centers that are FDA approved to perform the surgery.