An
Italian man with two hearts – one his own, one a donor heart – was
resuscitated via a defibrillator when both organs developed irregular
heart rhythms, a case study reports. The study in the journal Annals of
Emergency Medicine chronicles the life-saving measures used in 2010 to
save the 71-year-old, who received the donor heart in 2003. He had also
received a pacemaker in 2001. The heart was implanted in a heterotopic
procedure, which means the patient keeps his heart and receives a donor
heart. The new heart is connected to the original organ to create a
double heart, which offers some advantages: it offers the old heart a
chance to recover, and if the donor heart is rejected and fails, it can
be removed. After the man was admitted to the hospital, doctors
administered drug therapy in an attempt to correct his dysrhythmia, only
to have the medicine shut down both of his hearts. Doctors then were
able to successfully use a defibrillator to revive both hearts
simultaneously. He’s now reportedly doing well with his two functioning
hearts.
