Third AbioCor heart patient dies

LOS ANGELES -- A 74-year-old man who received a self-contained artificial heart has died, eight weeks after the device was implanted, doctors said Thursday. He was the third recipient of the pioneering device to die.

Doctors at UCLA Medical Center, who implanted the AbioCor heart into the patient Oct. 17, said the man died Wednesday.

The man was the fourth of six people who have received the artificial heart and the third of them to die.

"The patient and his family showed great courage," said Dr. Hillel Laks, the principal surgeon for the UCLA program. "We are all grieved that we could not extend his life further and return him to a better quality of life."

Doctors said the device continued to perform well, but the patient died from multiple organ system failure. Life support was withdrawn at the request of the family, doctors said.