Peter Houghton
Encyclopedia
Peter Houghton was the longest surviving artificial heart transplant patient in the UK.
Houghton was implanted with a Jarvik 2000 heart pump at the John Radcliffe Hospital
, Oxford
, England
, by professor Stephen Westaby
, on 20 June 2000 owing to severe heart failure. Since the operation, the left ventricular assist device has worked continuously supporting his heart, breaking the previous world duration record on 11 August 2004 at 1,513 days.
The record represents the survival of both the person and the artificial heart. A few individuals have lived longer than 1,512 days but with two artificial hearts, having the first surgically replaced due to failure or wear.
Houghton was the first person in the world to be given an artificial heart for permanent use rather than as a bridge to transplantation.
An educated psychotherapist, Houghton has written a book, "The World Within Me," in which he contemplates how receiving the transplant challenges his devout Catholicism
. He also reports that, ironically, the heart transplant has left him largely devoid of emotion.
He died on November 25, 2007 at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital at the age of 69 years. The cause of death was given as multiple organ failure.
Houghton was implanted with a Jarvik 2000 heart pump at the John Radcliffe Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, by professor Stephen Westaby
Stephen Westaby
Professor Stephen Westaby is a heart surgeon at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. He won the award of Midlander of the Year in 2002....
, on 20 June 2000 owing to severe heart failure. Since the operation, the left ventricular assist device has worked continuously supporting his heart, breaking the previous world duration record on 11 August 2004 at 1,513 days.
The record represents the survival of both the person and the artificial heart. A few individuals have lived longer than 1,512 days but with two artificial hearts, having the first surgically replaced due to failure or wear.
Houghton was the first person in the world to be given an artificial heart for permanent use rather than as a bridge to transplantation.
An educated psychotherapist, Houghton has written a book, "The World Within Me," in which he contemplates how receiving the transplant challenges his devout Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. He also reports that, ironically, the heart transplant has left him largely devoid of emotion.
He died on November 25, 2007 at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital at the age of 69 years. The cause of death was given as multiple organ failure.