This second implantation of the Carmat artificial heart was carried out with the utmost discretion on a patient at the Nantes University Hospital, according to information revealed by the daily Liberation.
“This operation was carried out by the team of Prof. Daniel Duveau. The latter was one of the senior surgeons present, with Professor Christian Latrémouille, during the first implantation of a Carmat artificial heart at the Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris (15th arrondissement) on December 18, 2013 ”, according to the daily Liberation. . But neither the Nantes University Hospital nor the Carmat company commented on the operation and the patient’s state of health.
the first patient implanted died on March 2, 75 days after his heart transplant. For this first trial, the researchers had set a period of 30 days before they could say that this trial was conclusive. The 30-day milestone was largely crossed, but the artificial heart suddenly stopped on the 75th day.
Hope for the sick
The artificial heart of the company Carmat is a real hope for patients suffering fromheart failure. This cardiovascular disorder makes it impossible for the heart to contract enough to send enough blood to supply the whole body. People who suffer from it are constantly short of breath, tired and sometimes need to be hospitalized.
In France, each year, heart failure is responsible for more than 32,000 deaths. This “definitive total artificial heart is not intended to replace heart transplants but to complete them by compensating for the lack of grafts and by responding to patients who are not eligible for transplantation”, recalls Pr Carpentier.