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 The 76-year-old man is eating normally, no longer
needs constant respiratory assistance and is able to walk a little
further every day thanks to physical therapy, the Georges Pompidou
European Hospital in Paris said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Carmat bioprosthesis continues to function satisfactorily,
without any anti-clotting treatment since January 10," said the
hospital, where the implant surgery was performed on December 18 and
where the patient is being treated.
It praised the patient's "exemplary courage, sense of humor and
family support" for playing a role in his recovery.
Heart-assistance devices have been used for decades as a temporary
solution for patients awaiting transplants, but Carmat's product is
designed to replace the real heart over the long term, mimicking
nature using biological materials and sensors.
It aims to extend life for thousands of patients who die each year
while awaiting a donor, while reducing the side-effects that can be
associated with transplants, such as blood clots and rejection.
Three more patients in France are due to be fitted with Carmat's
device. The people selected in this first series of clinical studies
suffer from terminal heart failure — when the sick heart can no
longer pump enough blood to sustain the body — and would otherwise
have only a few days or weeks to live.
Success will be judged on whether the patients survive with the
implant for at least a month. If deemed safe, the device will then
be fitted into about 20 lower-risk patients.
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A spokeswoman for Carmat declined to say when the other three
patients in the first round of tests would be fitted with its
artificial heart.
The company estimates around 100,000 patients in the United States
and Europe could benefit from its artificial heart, a market worth
more than 16 billion euros ($22 billion)
Chief Executive Marcello Conviti told Reuters in November that
Carmat hoped to finish human trials of the heart by the end of 2014
and to obtain approval to market them in the European Union by early
2015.
Among its competitors for artificial heart implants are
privately-held SynCardia Systems and Abiomed, both of the United
States.
(Reporting by Natalie Huet; editing by Pravin Char)
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