24 Year-Old Man Walks Out Of Michigan Hospital Without A Human Heart

January 18, 2015

A 24 year-old man has become the first person in Michigan to walk out of a hospital with a completely artificial heart.

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Larkin was 16 when he blacked out playing basketball. He was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia which causes irregular heart rhythm. For years, he had an implantable defibrillator that delivered electrical impulses when necessary to keep his heart going.

This past October, Larkin was admitted to the University of Michigan where doctors told him his heart was operating at a mere 15%. Running out of options, doctors implanted the Total Artificial Heart, connected to two tubes in Larkin's chest. They snake out from under his ribs and connect to a 13-pound compressor carried in his backpack.