For the first time ever, a complete and definitive artificial heart, designed by CARMAT biomedical company, was implanted to a patient.

This 100% French medical prowess was conducted by a team from the European Hospital Georges Pompidou, in Paris. This audacious and risky surgery gives a great hope for the 20 million patients in Europe and the US, with heart insufficiency.

The implementation of an autonomous artificial heart to a patient proves the excellence of medical expertise and the great technological achievement

Moreover, it combines scientific research and the French technological innovations. "France can be proud of this exceptional action in the service of human progress" expressed congratulations President of the Republic, François Hollande.

From 2013 tree patients were implanted the artificial heart. The first patient was a man of 75 years old. He suffered from the terminal stage of advanced heart insufficiency.

Hospital management declare in a press release after the operation that "the artificial heart works normally responding to his body needs in the completely automatic mode... In addition, the prosthesis doesn’t require immunosuppressive therapy".

Long years of researches brought the result

This prosthesis, designed by the CARMAT Company, has a long history. In 1988, a surgeon Alain Carpentier in collaboration with the University Pierre and Marie Curie, obtained the first patent on the bioprosthetic artificial heart transplant. After twenty-five years of research, this innovative technology has been realized. The aim of this ambitious project is a fully implantable bioprosthesis with the objective to imitate the natural heart, with its adaptation ability to an effort.
Professor Carpentier has already gained the world celebrity for his invention of biological valves (from animal tissues) to prevent clotting problems of metal valves. He decided to continue this approach with the artificial heart.

According to different estimations, the artificial heart will offer a five additional years of life. Artificial transplants have been implanted worldwide during the past ten years. However, these devices were a temporary solution before heart transplantation. This surgery can save many lives; on the other hand, it is accompanied by very heavy medications along with a risk of rejection.

The important advantage of an innovative artificial heart is its biomaterials structure, which eliminates taking anti-rejection medicines.

Another advantage is the absence of clotting formation, which reduces the risk of stroke.

The CARMAT Company explains that this artificial heart project, "the most efficient in the world" could save thousands of patients each year without risk of rejection and ensuring their quality of life.

Renowned excellence of French healthcare

This new achievement demonstrates one more time the highest quality of French medicine, heir to a long tradition of researches and innovations.

France is rich of many outstanding personalities, who made their impact to the history of medicine such as: Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, more recently, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi Luc Montagnier, who gained the Nobel Prize in 2008 for their work on the discovery of a retrovirus that causes AIDS, as well as Jules Hoffmann, Nobel Prize in 2011.

France is at the heart of cooperation in the medical field on the international level, including through its strong financial commitments, recognized expertise and the excellence of healthcare system.