ARTIFICIAL hearts could be implanted into North-East patients as early as next year, a leading surgeon believes.

Professor John Dark, head of the heart transplant team at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, said patients could receive new man-made hearts by the end of 2003.

"We hope the Freeman will be one of three or four UK centres selected to start doing trials," he added.

Prof Dark revealed that the Newcastle heart unit is in talks with the UK's other transplant centres about the introduction of an artificial heart implantation programme.

The tiny electric pumps, implanted into the patient's failing heart, help to restore the body's circulation to its normal levels without the need to remove the existing organ.

While it is still early days, at least one British heart patient is still alive two years after receiving an artificial heart pump at Oxford.

The prospect of man-made hearts being used is a shaft of sunlight illuminating an increasingly gloomy landscape.

Nationally, the number of organ transplants carried out in the UK is down by about 13 per cent, according to the organisation UK Transplant.

This is due to improved road safety, better hospital care for accident victims and the tendency for donors to be older than in the past. Consequently, fewer donated hearts are suitable for transplantation.

So far this year, the Freeman has only carried out 11 heart transplants, including five involving children. That compares to 33 during 2001.

While the number of kidney transplants is holding up, the number of lung transplants - 18 so far this year compared to 37 last year - is also down.

Relatively few liver transplants have been carried out.

"For the short to the medium term, I think artificial hearts will be the solution to the problem," said Prof Dark, who is also looking forward to the day when it may be possible to make pig hearts safe for humans.

Another promising new technology involves the implantation of stem cells which could "grow" into healthy heart tissue.

But Prof Dark stressed that this does not reduce the need for people to be willing to donate organs.

"The arguments for adopting an opting-out system rather than an opting-in system are increasingly strong, It has been done in Sweden and Belgium and it seems to work," he said.