healthmedicinet

• Man of 75 received the new heart on Wednesday night and is recovering well
• Device weighs 2lb – three
  times as much as a real organ – and powered by same type of
  rechargeable batteries used in toys, watches and smart phones
• Offers hope to 100,000 people in Europe and the U.S. who need a new heart
• Device is sewn into the arteries and veins that surrounded the old the heart
  and is wired to an external battery pack usually worn by the patient

By
Sophie Borland Health Reporter

PUBLISHED:

10:59 EST, 23 December 2013

|
UPDATED:

11:00 EST, 23 December 2013

An artificial heart which could extend a patient’s life by five years has been successfully implanted for the first time.

Doctors operated on a man of 75 on Wednesday night and he is said to be recovering well.

Although doctors have been attempting to transplant artificial hearts into patients since the 1980s, the devices have so far only worked for a few months.

The artificial heart weighs 2lb ¿ three times as much as a real organ ¿ and is powered by the same type of rechargeable batteries used in toys, watches and smart phones

The pioneering operation, which took place at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, offers hope to the 100,000 critically-ill patients in Europe and the U.S. in need of a new heart.

The device weighs 2lb (0.9kg) – three times as much as a real organ – and is powered by the same type of rechargeable batteries used in toys, watches and smart phones.

The device is mainly made from the strongest metal titanium but outer sections that come into contact with the body are composed from cow tissue, to prevent the immune system from rejecting it.

Its French manufacturers, Carmat, hope it will enable patients to lead a normal life and possibly be well enough to return to work.

Around 750,000 Britons suffer from heart failure, the main reason to need a new heart, of whom half will die within a year of diagnosis.

Although doctors have been attempting to transplant artificial hearts into patients since the 1980s, they have so far only worked for a few months at a time. For this reason they have only been given to a handful of patients while they wait for a donor heart to become available.

The device is mainly made from the strongest metal titanium but outer sections that come into contact with the body are composed from cow tissue, to prevent the immune system from rejecting it

Over the next few weeks the surgeons will give three other patients with terminal heart failure as part of a medical trial.

If deemed a success, the device will go on sale across Europe in 2015 at a price of between £120,000 and £150,000.

The
manufacturer is now planning to make smaller implants to fit women and
the more petite bodies of patients in India and China.

It
is sewn into the arteries and veins that surrounded the old the heart
and is wired to an external battery pack usually worn by the patient
around their waist.

The device then mimics the same contractions of a normal heart to pump blood around the body.

The male patient is said to be awake and responding well following the operation at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris

Around
100,000 people in Europe and the US are waiting for a new heart but
only about 4,000 transplants take place every year as so few organs
become available.

Alain Carpentier, who lead 16 surgeons performing the transplant on the Frenchman dying of heart failure, said: ‘It’s about giving patients a normal social life with the least dependence on medication possible.

‘We’ve already seen devices of this type but they had a relatively low autonomy. This heart will allow for more movement and less clotting.’

Mr Carpentier, who has been developing
the device for 25 years, added: ‘He [the patient] has a lot of humour.
He’s a very good patient.’

Over the next few weeks the surgeons will give three other patients with terminal heart failure as part of a medical trial. If deemed a success, the device will go on sale across Europe in 2015 at a price of between £120,000 and £150,000

The operation took roughly three hours to complete and surgeons said it had gone smoothly, without complications.

Christian Latremouille, another surgeon who was involved said: ‘The patient was nearing the end of his life. The intervention took place in good conditions.

‘There were no complications linked to the innovative nature of the implant operation,’ he said.

‘The patient is not walking yet, but we but we will try to get him sitting and then standing soon enough. The objective is for him to have a normal life.’

Marcello Convitto, chief executive of the firm said: ‘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.’

or comment on this article

• Old school: Suspended Phil on Duck Dynasty

• GRAPHIC CONTENT: Moment dead Sperm Whale EXPLODES

• VIDEO: Lion sent FLYING through the air before turning on…

• Boy teaching his husky puppy to howl

• Service dog mesmerised by Pluto.

• Guitar legend Carlos Santana is reunited with his old…

• Adorable pups are inseparable as one acts as guide dog for…

• Duck commander Phil Robertson says homosexuals ‘invent ways…

• Horses rescued from icy lake

• Cute seal hops into duck hunters’ boat to get a cuddle

• Warning graphic content: The bloody tradition of whale…

• Researchers make micro-muscular breakthrough

• EXCLUSIVE – Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson breaks his…

• Emergency services have a busy night as ‘Mad Friday’…

• ‘I love you whoever you are’: Mother gives her husband’s new…

• Three-year-old son whose father threw him off tower block…

• ‘Hung out to dry’: Duck Dynasty star and family lash back at…

• Found: The secret of looking up to 40 years younger is…

• Baby’s first picture: Breathtakingly intimate pictures…

• What is the mysterious ‘unknown object’ blocking progress of…

• Fights break out at shoe stores across the country as fans…

• Hunt for mystery wealthy man who posed as beggar and…

• Real estate agents sued for ‘using home they were supposed…

• Pregnant nurse, 29, is FIRED after she refuses to have flu…

Comments (0)

what you think

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

Find out now