A birth is never a mere coincidence.

So how can I tell this story?

As I have often said to them, everything has come down to meetings, circumstances, improbabilities, for which I can only thank that which some will call fate, others like me Providence … (I cannot ignore this interpretation, my whole life having been aware of the importance of gratitude).

Winding back the clock, I find it hard to compare my fledgling beginnings in interventionnal cardiac electrophysiology (itself a new and exciting technique) at Bichat Hospital in the late 70s and early 80s with the great leap taken by this group of heart rhythm specialists, of which I was modestly at the origin.

I can hardly believe that these young associates have made this dream come true in such a beautiful way, and have made this group of heart rhythm specialists one of the most important in France.

Professor PE Valère, one of the most prestigious patrons in Paris and one of the most innovative in the field, came to understand and contemplate the first rhythm disorders and their therapeutic approaches at the end of the 1970s (alongside the equally prestigious team at the Lariboisière Hospital).

It was a blessed time when everything seemed possible, and this Master, who has since become a friend, decided to take me under his wing, having noticed my passion for the field, as a father would have done…

With unlimited confidence in me, he soon gave me the keys to the emerging heart rythm department, his hospital functions no longer allowing him to be so closely involved in this activity…

What the young people could not have known was the clumsiness of the research at the time, with enormous recording machines and electrophysiology catheters worthy of torturers from the Middle Ages, compared with the materials available today.

And let’s not even talk about the pacemakers at the time, still extremely bulky and with such basic functions! Nowadays we forget the breakthrough they made in the treatment of such unjust sudden deaths…

So how could we not be passionate about what was becoming a specialty in its own right, an essential treatment basis for so many patients previously left in the gutter?

Little by little, the throes of economic hardship during the 1980s were behind the system of care known as the “global budget”. This unjust system no longer allowed hospitals to treat the final patients of the year without cutting into the budgets of other departments.

A happy consequence for me and our team of heart rhythm specialists, this aberration led to the creation of the Peupliers Heart Rythm Centre in 1984 (at this time, the Hospital was totally dependent on the French Red Cross). After a few years, time and time again (according to annual statistics), it became the number one centre in France for implanting pacemakers.

In view of the demand, the stress and the time requirements with the heavy on-call duties, I was of course obliged to join. And once again, this was an opportunity for a new encounter, in the form of Doctor Jean Marc Darondel, the young physician at HEGP, who was to become much more than a right hand: a friend, an unparalleled colleague, and an indispensable support.

It was with him, thanks to his dedication, altruism, honesty and professionalism, that I laid the foundation stone for this team of heart rhythm specialists (Rythmopôle). He was also a large part of its origins.

He facilitated access to new techniques, opened up a little more to ablations, while at the same time, hand in hand, we progressed in the ground-breaking techniques of cardiac resynchronisation therapy, an innovation of the 1990s…

A decisive step in 2011, when the ARS (Regional Health Agency) finally granted us the precious go-ahead: authorisation to open a centre of the size we had hoped for within the Institute Mutualiste Montsouris, an institution with which we were already engaged in significant and loyal professional relationships.

Our incessant desire to progress and innovate, our permanent links with major public hospitals and the centrality of the patient in all our care has therefore allowed us to keep a leading position in this field, and this has been strengthened further by the presence of the young associates who have joined us over time…

First of all, Doctor Pierre Jorrot, one of the least conventional and most innovative heart rhythm specialists I know. He combines the demand for quality with rigour. He is someone who, in my opinion, has showed incredible maturity of spirit from the beginning and who impressed me because he understood the mark I wanted to make and reinforce within this group of heart rhythm specialists: the absence of compromise in all areas, including in diagnostic research, and use of the most suitable technical approach.

His deceptively rigid character is underpinned by a classic British humour that lightens up all our meetings…

Doctor Edouard Siméon, the 4th member, brought us his equally incredible skills. Despite his almost adolescent face, he delights me with his sharp-mindedness and his ability to adapt to any situation, be it medical or otherwise. He is the very definition of the concept of consensus, which therefore prompted me to offer him responsibilities in the areas where we needed this type of skill the most.

Almost a namesake, and son of another prominent heart rhythm specialist in the east of Paris, Doctor Frédéric Sebag was the 5th member of this group of heart rhythm specialists (Rythmopôle). Like a mad professor at times, he is a genius technician, and has an ease and maturity in handling the most complex cases. He has come to strengthen this association quite naturally, as though it was his destiny right from his very beginnings…

Doctor Nicolas Mignot, with his reserved personality – “kindness personified” – also delights me with his human qualities, his investment, his consistency and his maturity. How we could do without him now that he soothes us so much with his calmness and availability on any subject.

Seventh in the group of heart rhythm specialists is Doctor Olivier Villejoubert, who also impressed me with his technical aptitude and innovative spirit. Our paths crossed at a time when, nearing retirement, my duties were mainly to promote and improve relations between the rhythmology team and heads of the institution. At a time when economic or statutory constraints were weighing on the career of a doctor, a career in which we all dreamed of succeeding even the most famous doctors in history, from the perspective of goodness and humanity.