First in man implantation of the CARMAT total artificial heart
From the official press release as distributed on December 20th, 2013:
CARMAT (FR0010907956, ALCAR), the designer and developer of the world’s most advanced total artificial heart project, providing an alternative for people suffering from end-stage heart failure, announces the first implantation of its artificial heart, as part of its feasibility study and in accordance with the approvals granted by the ANSM (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé, the French health authority) and the Comité de Protection des Personnes (ethics committee).
The procedure was performed on December 18, 2013 by the Georges Pompidou European Hospital team in Paris (France) – a world first.
The implantation went smoothly, with the prosthesis automatically providing blood flow at physiologic conditions. The patient is currently being monitored in the intensive care unit. He is awake and talks with his family.
“We are delighted with this first implant, although it is premature to draw conclusions given that a single implant has been performed and that we are in the early postoperative phase”, says Marcello Conviti, Chief Executive Officer of CARMAT.