Second Carmat artificial heart implanted in France
For the second time a high-tech bioprosthetic heart has been implanted in a French patient. The operation took place a few weeks ago at the University Hospital Nantes, in western France, reports said.
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According to French newspaper Libération, surgeon Daniel Duveau implanted he high-cost 900-gramme heart, which is reserved for the moment for severely overweight people due to its weight, into a patient a few weeks ago.
The operation was realised in the greatest secrecy and both the hospital and French artificial heart-maker Carmat refused to comment.
Duveau was one of the senior surgeons to attend the first Carmat artificial heart implantation at the Paris George-Pompidou hospital on the 18 December 2013.
The first recipient, 76-year-old Claude Dany, was suffering from severe heart failure.
He died 75 days after the operation because of a technical fault in the bioprosthetic heart.
Carmat announced on the 16 July that it was authorised to resume testing its artificial heart and to recruit three other patients.
According to the company, the artificial heart is intended to definitively replace a failing heart and is not a stop-gap ahead of a transplant.
The bioprosthetic heart is lined with biomaterials from animal tissue, which means the patient does not need to take anti-coagulants.
Carmat's share price rose 18.5 per cent on the Paris bourse on Friday morning.
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