Artificial heart tests 'to resume'

LESS THAN two months after France’s first artificial heart transplant patient died, doctors want to resume testing the implant.

Claude Dany, 76, died in March, 75 days after being fitted with an artificial heart at Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.

Doctors who treated the man, and those who fitted the artificial heart, saluted his bravery in accepting to be part of the first clinical trial of the heart and “making a memorable contribution” in efforts to combat heart disease.

Now, Carmat, the French company behind the implant, sees the artificial heart as a way to allow heart patients to live for longer while awaiting a transplant and to return home and maybe even resume work.

Professor Alain Carpentier, who designed the heart and founded the company said: “Carmat, as sponsor of the clinical study, will request permission to resume trials."

The trial is set to involve implanting the device into four patients. Tests will be ruled a success if the patient gets an extra month of life – but the designers have said that the hearts should be capable of beating 100,000 times a day and 35 million times per year.