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For Schroeder's doctors there is much stress ahead as they worry about their patient's survival. DeVries told reporters last week that he will worry for as long as Schroeder lives about the risk of infection, which is a greater problem for diabetics, or about a breakdown in the equipment. "We live on the edge of possible disaster at any time," he said. By applying the lessons learned from Barney Clark, DeVries hopes that certain earlier calamities can be avoided. For example, because Clark's brain seizures were attributed to the sudden increase in blood circulation following surgery, doctors are taking a more gradual approach to increasing Schroeder's heart rate. In addition, since one of the valves used in Clark's heart broke two weeks after the heart was implanted, Schroeder's heart contains valves of a different make, which, DeVries says, are "substantially stronger."
A few other changes in equipment have been made: the heart's drive system, though still unwieldy, is 52 Ibs. lighter than it was two years ago. Better yet, the new portable pump system may eventually free Schroeder from the contraption for several hours every day. "I think it's the beginning of the end of the view of the artificial heart as a cumbersome device that doesn't give people the type of life they really need," observed Jarvik after the first successful use of the device. According to Jarvik, other improvements in the technology are on the horizon. The current heart, which weighs three-quarters of a pound, is too large to fit in most women's smaller chest cavities; its successor, the Jarvik-8, will ultimately be available in more than one size, including a streamlined model for people with small frames.
DeVries wistfully expressed the hope last week that his patient would be home for Christmas, although he quickly acknowledged that it was "very, very unrealistic." For the Schroeders, every extra heartbeat was gift enough. "It's different, but at least it's beating, and I can feel it," said his wife Margaret. Added their son Melvin: "He's just the old Dad again."
—By Claudia Wallis. Reported by Barbara B. Dolan/Louisville