It took five months of follow-up for the second patient equipped with an artificial heart of the Carmat type can finally find his home. Transplanted on August 5, 2014 at Nantes University Hospital, the 68-year-old patient “was able to leave the hospital quietly on January 2 and return home permanently” announced Professor Alain Carpentier who designed the device. “He told us that he had gone to lunch without any technical assistance at his son’s home, 70 km from Nantes. Isn’t that the best demonstration of a normal life? »Congratulated the doctor, comparing these operative consequences to those of an ordinary heart transplant.
Autonomy regained
The return home was possible once the patient was able to “have complete autonomy” and manage himself a portable device of 3kg including the batteries to supply the device with electricity and a control box.
The patient who suffered fromheart failure terminal has regained great autonomy, and can now move around on its own or even cycle safely.
A first prosthesis of the same type had been implanted on December 18, 2013 in Paris on a 76-year-old patient, who had died 74 days after the transplant, following the accidental shutdown of the machine. According to Prof. Carpentier, “the causes of the stoppage on the 74th day turned out to be multifactorial” and “some of the difficulties were linked to the patient’s condition: his age, his more advanced disease, his life threatened within a few weeks” and “his general condition, especially his kidneys, more affected than we might have expected”. For the second operation, the team chose “a younger patient, with renal and hepatic functions still little affected, and with good pulmonary function”.
Professor Alain Carpentier also congratulated the medical teams in Paris and Nantes, and insisted on the courage of his patient: “After years of suffering, a new year and a new life have begun for this patient. His courage, his confidence and the support of his family were decisive for the success of this establishment. “
THE’implantation of the autonomous artificial heart, designed by the French company Carmat is considered a world premiere. According to the designers, this artificial heart makes it possible to make the patient wait for a transplant patient, or to permanently replace the failing organ if it suits the patient. The Carmat bio-prosthetic heart has been designed with synthetic and biological materials that are not rejected by the human body, and allow to reproduce the natural movement of the heart.
The programtrial will include two more transplants in volunteer patients, before eventually being able to lead to a clinical study extended to 20 or 25 patients with heart failure. The society Carmat hopes to see its technology obtain European certification (CE) in 2016, to pave the way for marketing its bio-prosthesis.
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