25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart

Re:25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart by dogma1138 on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @06:08AM (#11861173)

There is a difference between pulse and heartbeat, the pulse is from the veins and you can feel it even with an LVAD.

The audible heartbeat is from the heart sliding in the pericardium sac when it beats, many people lose the audible heartbeat after having heart surgery when the pericardium sac has to be cut or removed completely e.g. if someone is having a bypass surgery.

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Re:25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart by naveen99 on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @08:26AM (#11861720)

Peripheral Veins are not pulsatile (near the heart, they have a complicated waveform). Peripheral pulse is arterial.

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Re:25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart by jeroen on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @09:34AM (#11862149)

The audible heartbeat is from the valves closing.

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Re:25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart by et2o on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @10:33AM (#11862509)

Yeah! Maybe the OP has the heart sounds confused with a pericardial friction rub, which can happen in pathological states and is due to the heart sliding against the pericardium.

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Re:25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart by cushychicken on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @02:56PM (#11864648)

I didn't know there was a difference in terminology when I asked. This was a worthwhile question - I learned a lot.

Thanks for the great explanations!

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