His thesis on the anatomy of the lung was published in two volumes, following which he completed a fellowship with open heart surgery pioneer Walton Lillehei at the University of Minnesota.

Among numerous appointments and honorary posts, he was involved with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) from its inception in 1981, becoming its president ten years later.

In 1989, he became an active campaigner for organ donation with France Transplant and subsequently co-founded the Association for the Development and Innovation in Cardiology (ADICARE).

Christian Cabrol was born on 16 September 1925 in the Chézy-sur-Marne, Aisne region of Northern France to a family descended from the shepherds of Cévennes.

[2] As a child, Cabrol would accompany his physician paternal grandfather on home visits, ultimately instilling the inspiration to study medicine.

[3] Thereafter, he was sent to board at the Marist Brothers Saint Laurent College in Lagny on marne,[1] until his education was interrupted by the Second World War.

During his four years of internship, he worked with and was influenced by a number of renowned surgeons of the time, including Charles Dubost, Cordier who encouraged thoracic surgery and René Küss who emphasised organ transplantation.

[1] Cabrol returned to the Hôpital La Pitié Salpêtrière in 1960 as a cardiac surgeon[4] and recreated a replica of Lillehei's experimental laboratory.

[1] With the head of department, Maurice Mercadier conveniently away in inaccessible Algiers at the time,[1][5] Cabrol, with his wife as anaesthetist[1] and assisted by Gérard M. Guiraudon, performed France's and Europe's first heart transplant on 27 April 1968.

The recipient, 66 year old Clovis Roblain, whose surgical video footage shows he had a large, swollen, poorly functioning heart, survived 52 hours.

His wife, Annik, an anaesthetist, monitored the recipients after surgery, looking for early organ rejection via endomyocardial biopsies and followed them up as outpatients.

[3][4][7] However, funding limited further developments, until the French newspaper Le Figaro[5] became interested and a grant from King Hassan II was received for further such procedures, an act of philanthropy as a result of Cabrol operating on a member of the Royal Moroccan Family four years earlier.

[10] Cabrol pioneered the technique of tricuspid annuloplasty and the repair of ascending aortic aneurysms,[4][11] coronary and other valve surgery and the treatment of Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

[4] He gave yearly talks at the French-speaking meeting "Journées de La Pitié" which focuses on heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support.