Odds Slim for Heart Patient

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An Indiana teen-ager has received a new heart after five days on a pair of external plastic pumps, but doctors said today he has only a slim chance of surviving unless his kidneys start working soon.

Michael C. Jones, 16, also has a higher risk of infection because of openings made in his skin for the pumps and dialysis machine, his surgeon said.

“If we can get his kidneys back, I think we can save him,” Dr. Laman Gray Jr. said at a news conference. “If not, there’s no way.”