Domingo Santo Liotta (born November 29, 1924) is a pioneer of heart surgery, creator of multiple cardiac prostheses including the first total artificial heart used in a human being.
In 1963, Liotta and E. Stanley Crawford first used the Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) in a patient. The original clinical prototype is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.. The Liotta-DeBakey LVAD was first used in 1966. 1969 saw the first clinical use of the Liotta-Cooley Total Artificial Heart, at the Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas.
According to DeBakey, this device was stolen from his lab by Liotta, (even though it was invented by Liotta himself). DeBakey said that the device had not been successful in animal experiments, so while the patient had the artificial heart in place, he developed multiple system organ failure, as supposedly the experimental animals had, and died shortly after a heart replaced the device. However, this proved for the first time that human life could be prolonged with such a device.
