An electric motor revolving up to 10, 000 times a minute pushes an incompressible fluid around the Abiomed heart, and that fluid, in turn, pushes the blood first to the lungs to be oxygenated, and then around the body.

ECONOMIST: A promising new artificial heart wins regulatory approval

One finding: The type of heart problem that caused cardiac arrest in most of the survivors blood vessels that were too narrow to meet the oxygen demands of the heart during an intense running race can be caught by an exercise stress test.

WSJ: Runners, Rest Easy: Heart Risks Seem Overblown

The participants in Dr Bolli's study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere usually the leg.

ECONOMIST: Stem cells and medicine: Repairing broken hearts | The