'82 heart implant sparked progress

Countless calves and sheep, pounds of plastic and Dacron, miles of tubing, a hot tub and hundreds of bright minds and willing hands figuratively lined the road on which Barney Clark made his journey into medical history on Dec. 1, 1982 — as the first human to receive a total artificial heart, with FDA approval.

A quarter century has passed since a University of Utah team, led by Dr. William DeVries, implanted the Jarvik-7 artificial heart in the failing body of the Seattle dentist, so the anniversary is a fitting time to look at what led to the groundbreaking surgery and what has followed.

Later this week, U. officials and the Utah Artificial Heart Institute will host a two-day symposium at Huntsman Cancer Institute to mark the milestone. Many of the biggest names in heart repair — mechanical and medicinal — will gather Friday and Saturday to compare notes, celebrate Clark's legacy and discuss the future of cardiovascular treatment in a world where heart disease is the leading cause of death.

Barney Clark was born and educated in Provo, a Utah boy who moved to Seattle to study dentistry and stayed until the failure of his heart brought him back to seek care, first at LDS Hospital and later in the U.'s artificial heart program. He'd married UnaLoy Mason and they had three grown children, Stephen, Gary and Karen.

He consulted a young doctor at LDS Hospital, Jeffrey Anderson, now associate chief of cardiology at Intermountain Medical Center. LDS was just starting up a heart transplant program.

Initially, Clark was not a candidate for a human heart transplant. He was over 60 and had other medical problems. So Anderson managed his heart disease with medical therapy and clinical trials, "the latest and greatest at the time," he says today. That worked for a couple of years, then Clark began to fail rapidly.

About that time, Anderson had what he now calls a "key encounter in a hot tub" at the U. fieldhouse, where he and DeVries had each been working out. They chatted about the U's artificial heart program. Everyone knew by then that the U. was planning to implant someone; they were looking for the right candidate.

Anderson told DeVries about Clark, a man he recalls as "sophisticated medically and willing to be a guinea pig." Anderson sent Clark to see DeVries, and Clark's journey into history began.

"Barney was a real pioneer. He realized that with a first one, a lot can go wrong. He was willing to try," Anderson says.