Mohamed Fourati

Mohamed Fourati (Arabic:محمد فراتي) (January 18, 1932 – February 26, 2012) was a Tunisian cardiovascular surgeon. He pioneered in open-heart surgery in the Arab-Muslim world. As a professor and lecturer for 39 years, he taught and mentored a generation of young surgeons in Tunisia.

Biography A year after getting his philosophy baccalaureate in his native town Sfax, Mohamed Fourati moved to Lille (France) to pursue his graduate education in the medical school of Lille. In order to validate his studies, he became an intern in the Farhat-Hachad Hospital of Sousse. Traveling between the two continents, he secured, in 1959, a medical doctorate at the medical school of Lille.

He performed his military service, the following year, in the region of El Kef (in north-eastern Tunisia) and in Kébili (southern Tunisia). He continued to specialize in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the Saint-Joseph Hospital of Paris. He got assigned to the general surgery unit of doctors and Zouhair Essafi at the Habib-Thameur Hospital in Tunis.

He got appointed as hospital assistant in 1966, then earned the title of chief physician of the surgical ward in the Habib-Thameur Hospital in May 1968 and became, at the age of 35, the youngest chief physician in Tunisia. In November of the same year, he performed the first open-heart surgery,

On January 16, 1980, he got designated as a member of the French National Academy of Surgery. During that year, he formed a cardiac surgery unit in the Habib-Thameur Hospital, independent of other general surgery activities. He got appointed as chief physician at the Military Hospital of Tunis in 1989.

On January 15, 1993, at 2 am, he successfully performed the first cardiac transplant, which was considered a notable achievement in the Arab-Muslim world. A race against the clock began to ready the receiver in order to strengthen the chances of carrying out a successful transplant. All the staff involved were mobilized that night for this surgical first. In Tunisia, the previous legal regulation, in relation to organ harvesting, was the beylical decree of 19 July 1952. The latter concerned only the deceased without acknowledging brain death which was, at the time, an unknown concept.

On February 26, 2012, he died at the age of 80 at his home in Tunis. Tributes were then paid to his life by administrative, religious and scientific authorities. Samy, a specialist in nuclear radiology at the Brooklyn Hospital in New York; Neil, agronomist in Tunis.

Passionate about agriculture, Mohamed Fourati bought a senia (small farm), in the vicinity of Hammamet, for his vacations and family moments of relaxation .

Publications Mohamed Fourati, B. Younes, C. Tauziet et L. Skandrani, "Report on open-heart surgery at the Hôpital Habib Thameur", La Tunisie médicale, Tunis, no 5, 1972, p. 339-344 (ISSN 0041-4131, summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, Rafik Mzali, Rafik Zouari, Abdelwaheb Ounissi, Youssef Sahnoun, Rachid Jlidi et Issam Beyrouti, "Le cystadénome mucineux du pancréas : à propos d'une observation", Association tunisienne de chirurgie, Tunis, no 1, 1995, p. 38-41 (ISSN 0330-5961, summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, M. Ben Ismaïl, A. Bousnina, F. Zouari et J. Lacronique, "Kyste hydatique autochtone à localisation cardiaque d'évolution favorable", La Presse médicale, Tunis, vol. 29, no 21, juin 2000, p. 1175 (summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, M. Ben Ismaïl, A. Bousnina, F. Zouari et J. Lacronique, "Kyste hydatique du cœur simulant une ischémie coronarienne", Annales de cardiologie et d'angéiologie, Paris, Éditions scientifiques et médicales, vol. 50, no 4, 2001, p. 206-210 (summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, H. Marrak, N. Mnajja, S. Fenniche, M. Zghal, E. Chaker, M. Ben Ayed et I. Mokhtar, "Chromomycose : à propos d'une observation", Journal de mycologie médicale, Paris, Éditions scientifiques et médicales, vol. 13, no 1, mars 2003, p. 37-39 (summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, H. Khouadja, H. Kechiche, K. Souissi et A. Mebazaa, Médicaments inotropes : Insuffisance circulatoire aiguë (avec plan), Paris, Elsevier Masson SAS, 2009 (summary in fr). Mohamed Fourati, M. Feki, A. Zouari, S. Sessi, F. Mnif, N. Kaffel, N. Charfi et M. Abid, "Hyperleptinémie et insulino-résistance chez les femmes obèses tunisiennes (avec résumé)", Diabetes & Metabolism, Paris, vol. 35, no 51, mars 2009, p. 88 (summary in fr).

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