The Aeson® total artificial heart (A-TAH) has been developed as a total heart replacement for patients at risk of death from biventricular failure. We previously described endothelialization of the hybrid membrane inside A-TAH probably at the origin of acquired hemocompatibility. We aimed to quantify vasculogenic stem cells in peripheral blood of patients with long-term A-TAH implantation. Four male adult patients were included in this study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected before A-TAH implantation (T0) and after implantation at one month (T1), between two and five months (T2), and then between six and twelve months (T3). Supervised analysis of flow cytometry data confirmed the presence of the previously identified Lin-CD133+CD45- and Lin-CD34+ with different CD45 level intensities. Lin-CD133+CD45-, Lin-CD34+CD45- and Lin-CD34+CD45+ were not modulated after A-TAH implantation. However, we demonstrated a significant mobilization of Lin-CD34+CD45dim (p = 0.01) one month after A-TAH implantation regardless of the expression of CD133 or c-Kit. We then visualized data for the resulting clusters on a uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) plot showing all single cells of the live Lin- and CD34+ events selected from down sampled files concatenated at T0 and T1. The three clusters upregulated at T1 are CD45dim clusters, confirming our results. In conclusion, using a flow cytometry approach, we demonstrated in A-TAH-transplanted patients a significant mobilization of Lin-CD34+CD45dim in peripheral blood one month after A-TAH implantation. Using a flow cytometry approach, we demonstrated in A-TAH transplanted patients a significant mobilization of Lin-CD34+CD45dim in peripheral blood one month after A-TAH implantation. This cell population could be at the origin of newly formed endothelial cells on top of hybrid membrane in Carmat bioprosthetic total artificial heart.

Cardiac Surgery Department and Biosurgical Research Lab AP HP Georges Pompidou European Hospital Université de Paris 75015 Paris France

Carmat SA Vélizy Villacoublay France

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Hematology and Biosurgical Research Lab AP HP Georges Pompidou European Hospital 75015 Paris France

Innovative Therapies in Haemostasis INSERM Université de Paris 75006 Paris France

Institut Curie Cytometry Platform 75006 Paris France

PARCC INSERM Université de Paris 75015 Paris France

Vascular Medicine Department and Georges Pompidou European Hospital AP HP 75015 Paris France

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