What is Heart Transplant?
Removal and replacement of a diseased heart with a healthy heart from an organ donor is called heart transplant. Heart transplant is a medical term and it is done by medical professionals where two or more healthcare providers must declare the donor brain as dead. It is also referred to as cardiac transplant and involves surgical procedure to replace the heart with severe coronary artery disease or end-stage heart failure condition when all other medical or surgical treatments are no more hope.
Some Facts Related to Heart Transplant
Every year, approx 3.5 K heart transplants are performed worldwide and over half of this is done in the US.
It is known that the post-operative survival period for a patient is 15 years.
Heart transplantation can be considered as a life-saving treatment rather than a cure for heart disease which aims to improve the duration and quality of life of the patient.
Before human-to-human transplant, earlier, the heart of a chimpanzee was transplanted into the chest of a human, Boyd Rush. However, due to this kidney failure in humans was observed. Later, we will discuss in detail about the first human heart transplant in this article.
The largest heart transplant center in the world is known to be California where 132 adult transplants have been done in the year 2015 alone.
Allotransplants is a technical term for a transplant done from a non-genetically identical individual of the same species.
In the year 1968, over 100 transplants were performed by numerous doctors and only a third of the patients liver over 3 months.
Various contradictions and complications related to heart transplant are known which we will discuss later in this write-up.
When Was the First Human Heart Transplant Operation Done?
The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed in the year 1967 on December 6. It was performed by South African cardiac surgeon named Christiaan Barnard on Louis Washkansky in Cape Town, South Africa. However, the patient died after 18 days of the operation due to pneumonia.
Further, in the 1970s, better anti-rejection drugs were discovered that made the heart transplant process more viable. Dr. Barnard was dedicated to perform heart transplantation and by the late 1970s, many of the recipients were able to live up to five years with the receiving of new hearts. Today, much of the successful heart transplant stories can be found and the only difficult part is to find appropriate donors.
Why Did Louis Washkansky Need a Heart Transplant?
Washkansky was a South African grocer suffering from chronic heart disease, and the first Louis Washkansky heart transplant was performed and was possible because of the recipient named Denise Darvall who was a 25-year-old woman and fatally injured in a car accident. Surgeon Christiaan Barnard was the person to perform it at the University of Cape Town.
First Pediatric Heart Transplant
It was performed on the 6th of December, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York at Maimonides hospital. It was performed by Adrian Kantrowitz, however, the infant’s new heart stopped functioning after 7 hours and thus the surgeon admitted that the operation was unsuccessful.
FAQs on First Human Heart Transplant
1. Who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant, and when did it take place?
The world's first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard on December 3, 1967. The groundbreaking surgery took place at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
2. Who was the first recipient of a human heart transplant and what was the outcome of the surgery?
The first recipient was Louis Washkansky, a 54-year-old man suffering from severe heart failure. While the surgery itself was successful, he survived for only 18 days. His death was caused by double pneumonia, a complication resulting from the immunosuppressant drugs he was taking to prevent his body from rejecting the new heart.
3. When was the first successful heart transplant performed in India, and who led the surgical team?
The first successful heart transplant in India was performed on August 3, 1994, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. The surgical team was led by Dr. Panangipalli Venugopal.
4. What is the primary medical and ethical condition required for a person to be considered a heart donor?
The primary condition is the declaration of brain death. This means there is an irreversible cessation of all brain functions, including the brainstem. Ethically and legally, this person is considered deceased, but their heart and other organs can be kept functioning temporarily by life-support machines, making them viable for transplantation.
5. Why is the first human heart transplant considered a major milestone in medical history?
This event is a major milestone for several critical reasons:
- It demonstrated that a vital human organ could be successfully replaced, opening the door for all modern organ transplantation.
- It spurred significant advancements in the field of immunosuppression to manage the body's natural tendency to reject foreign organs.
- It forced the medical and legal communities to establish clear definitions for life and death, leading to the widespread acceptance of brain death as a standard.
6. What are the main biological challenges a patient faces after receiving a heart transplant?
The primary biological challenge is graft rejection (or organ rejection). The recipient's immune system, particularly the T-lymphocytes, identifies the donor heart as a foreign body and launches an attack against it. To prevent this, patients must take powerful immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives. A major side effect of these drugs is an increased susceptibility to infections.
7. How does a human-to-human heart transplant differ from a xenotransplant?
A human-to-human transplant, or an allograft, involves transplanting a heart from one person (a deceased donor) to another. A xenotransplant involves transplanting an organ or tissue between two different species, such as from a genetically modified pig to a human. The main biological hurdle in xenotransplantation is preventing hyperacute rejection, an extremely rapid and severe immune response.
8. Who was the donor in the first human heart transplant, and why was her contribution so significant?
The donor was Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old woman who was declared brain dead after a severe car accident. Her contribution was profoundly significant because her father's consent to donate her heart established the crucial ethical and medical precedent for using organs from brain-dead donors. This practice became the foundation for organ donation programmes worldwide.
