LOUISVILLE — More than two months after the world's first self-contained artificial heart operation, medical experts are discussing whether the AbioCor device has proved to be a better alternative than the Jarvik 7, first used in the 1980s.

        “So far, this heart and the Jarvik 7 are almost indistinguishable,” said Dr. William DeVries, a heart surgeon who put the older mechanical heart in several patients in Louisville nearly 20 years ago. At this stage in Robert Tools' recovery, he said, the Jarvik 7 and the AbioCor performances “are very similar.”

        University of Louisville surgeons Drs. Laman Gray and Robert Dowling implanted the AbioCor in Mr. Tools, 59, of Franklin on July 2 at Jewish Hospital in Louisville. Mr. Tools' artificial heart was developed by researchers from Abiomed Inc., of Danvers, Mass.

        The main difference between the devices is that the AbioCor has no wire or tubes penetrating the chest.

        Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, who developed the Jarvik 7, said both mechanical hearts represent obsolete technology — in part, he says, because they are so complex that a lot can go wrong with them.

        However, Dr. Allan Lansing, a retired Louisville heart surgeon, disagrees.

        Dr. Lansing helped bring artificial heart technology to Louisville in the 1980s. He said he believes the new heart implanted in Mr. Tools, “is definitely an advance,” and that there's compelling evidence it is less prone to infection and less likely to cause strokes than the Jarvik 7.

        Dr. DeVries wrote an article for The Journal of the American Medical Association in February 1988 which shows that after the Jarvik 7 was implanted, only one of three initial patients had a stroke within the first 60 days. That was Bill Schroeder of Jasper, Ind., and it came on the 18th day after his surgery.

        Mr. Schroeder lived on the Jarvik 7 for 620 days. According to newspaper articles published after his death in 1986, he suffered four strokes in all.

        Scientists at Abiomed Inc. have said their heart also is designed to vastly reduce the chance of clots.

        Drs. Gray and Dowling have said that even though intestinal bleeding has prevented them from using blood thinners, the replacement heart has caused no clots or strokes, and is operating flawlessly. The doctors credit the new heart's design.

        Dr. Jarvik said in an interview last week that “there is basically no purpose served” by comparing the Jarvik 7 with the AbioCor.

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