• According to the Food and Drug Administration, an artificial heart is a two pound device that is implanted in an individual's chest after the removal of a diseased heart. The artificial heart contains both an electrical unit and a battery. An individual with an artificial heart can rely on the battery for up to two hours without having the device plugged into an electrical outlet. An artificial heart is a short-term solution for an individual who is in heart failure. While the artificial heart has many benefits to someone whose own heart is no longer able to sustain life, there are also risks to having an artificial heart implanted.
  
  

Extension of Life

• According to the Food and Drug Administration, an artificial heart can only be implanted in an individual who is in heart failure and will only live one month or less without a heart transplant. An artificial heart benefits an individual in this dire situation in two ways. Patients in heart failure are often on waiting lists for a heart transplant, but available healthy hearts are not in great abundance. An artificial heart gives him more time to wait for a heart to become available for transplantation. Even if a heart does not become available, the artificial heart can give an individual in heart failure more time to spend with friends and family before he dies. According to studies done by the FDA, individuals were able to live for months with an artificial heart. Two patients in the study were able to live between 10 and 17 months with an artificial heart.
  
  

Bleeding Problems

• The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute warns that bleeding problems can become an issue in an individual who has received an artificial heart. The body may respond to the artificial heart by causing the blood to clot excessively. To prevent this, medications that thin the blood need to be given. In turn, the thinning of the blood can lead to excessive bleeding during the implantation surgery and after the heart is implanted. Either blood clots or hemorrhage can lead to death.
  
  

Infection

• An individual with an artificial heart is at extreme risk of developing an infection because the power source exits the body via hole in the abdomen. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, bacteria can get in the exposed area and infect the individual with an artificial heart.
  
  

Failure

• An artificial heart is an electronic device, and because of this, it at risk of malfunctioning and failing. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute states that this risk is increased due to the fact that the artificial device is so complex in its nature. If the artificial heart stops working, the individual in whom it is implanted will die.