FRANCE CARRIED OUT the second transplant of a new-generation artificial heart last month, Health Minister Marisol Touraine has said.
Touraine said the transplant took place on August 5 at the university hospital in the western French city of Nantes and went well.
The operation came nearly six months after the first recipient, 76-year-old Claude Dany, who had been gravely ill with a heart condition, died two-and-a-half months after receiving the experimental device.
“This intervention confirms that heart transplant procedures are entering a new era,” Touraine said in a statement. She did not give other details.
The artificial heart, a unit implanted in the patient’s chest, uses soft “biomaterials” intended to lessen the risk of blood clots and rejection by the immune system. It is powered by a belt of lithium batteries.
Nearly 100,000 people in Europe and the United States are in need of a heart transplant, according to its maker, Carmat, which plans to test the device for feasibility on four people.
Speculation was rife last week that the operation had taken place, but it was not confirmed until today.
The New York Times reports that Carmat’s shares were suspended last week after they were swamped with orders following the reports.
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