The second recipient of a Carmat artificial heart is ‘living a completely normal life at home’. The 68-year-old left hospital on 2 January after receiving the permanent, bioprosthetic organ as part of the French company’s ongoing clinical trials at the University of Nantes hospital.
The married father of two, who had previously only been able to move from his bed to a chair, had been "pedalling like crazy" on an exercise bike, according to device inventor and company co-founder Alain Carpentier, MD, in an interview with Le Parisien.
This success now paves the way for others enrolled in the programme to receive the portable electric system, which is designed for patients with end-stage heart failure, after the first recipient died 75 days after the operation following a probable short-circuit.
Carmat plans to enrol two more patients in its current clinical trials prior to publishing publish a study.
