He said he didn’t feel his new heart and had the impression of “reliving”. The patient even said he could do DIY and gardening. Nine months after receiving the Carmat prosthesis and testifying to his regained autonomy, the second patient who benefited from the artificial heart died.
In a press release, the Carmat company explains the circumstances of the death of this man who had benefited from the implantation of a heart at the Nantes University Hospital on August 5, 2014.
He was hospitalized in Nantes on Friday, May 1 in the evening following a circulatory failure. “The medico-surgical team having noticed a functional drift of the prosthesis, the patient was put under cardio-respiratory assistance in intensive care unit”, specifies the press release.
The defective prosthesis was replaced on Saturday May 2 by a new Carmat prosthesis. “The operation was completed and blood circulation was restored,” the company continued in the statement. But that was obviously not enough. “Despite the efforts made, postoperative poly-visceral complications set in, and the patient died on Saturday, May 2 at the end of the afternoon”.
“We join in the pain of those close to the patient and wish to pay tribute to the latter who lived for nearly nine months with his heart prosthesis, leading an almost normal life with his family,” said Marcello Conviti, General Manager of Carmat.
It is the second patientnot to survive the Carmat prosthesis. The first patient, aged 76, died 74 days after the transplant, following the accidental shutdown of the machine. A third patientrecently benefited from a Carmat heart.
To understand the possible causes of the death of the second patient, the Carmat company will analyze the data from the prosthesis “in accordance with the clinical trial protocol, [afin] to ensure maximum safety conditions for the third implanted patient “.
The confident Carmat company
Will this new death slow down the projects of the Carmat company? No. Society is not giving up. It will continue what constitutes the first of the two phases of clinical trials planned before approval and marketing of the prosthesis by the European Union, recalls Liberation.
The CEO of Carmat, a listed company, gives a reassuring speech for the rest: “This event should be seen in the context of the feasibility test phase of an extremely innovative device for patients suffering from insufficiency. cardiac terminal. The Company remains resolutely confident in the capacity of the prosthesis and renews the total commitment of its teams in this regard “.
>> To read also:Carmat: the second patient tells