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TERRY DOES SCIENCE!
HUMAN TRANSPLANTS
When and where was the first Heart transplant performed?
December 3 1967 in Cape Town South Africa.
Who performed this operation?
Dr. Christiaan Bernard assisted by his brother Dr. Marius Bernard.
(Another brother died of a heart problem at the age of five)
Who were the recipient and donor?
The donor was a 25 year-old lady, Denise Darvall, who had been
involved in a car accident and the recipient was a 55 year-old man,
Louis Washkansky, who was suffering from diabetes and incurable
heart disease. The operation was a success and a few days later a
beaming Washkansky was on every newspaper and TV station all
around the World.
How long did he live for after the operation?
Sadly, only 18 days. He developed pneumonia and died from this.
However, the operation was deemed a success and Dr. Bernard
became a world-wide celebrity.
Was this the first Human transplant?
No. The world?s first successful kidney transplant took place in
1953 in the US and Bernard himself performed the first kidney
transplant in South Africa in 1959.
Was Dr. Bernard accepted by his peers?
Bernard became an international superstar overnight. A number
of colleagues in the profession believe that he "stole" the idea and
therefore the opertunity to perform the first heart transplant. Three
American surgeons, Shumway, Lower and Kantrowitz had spent many
years perfecting the technique transplanting hundreds of hearts from
dog to dog. These operations had been taking place for 10 years. Dr.
Bernard only heard of them in 1966 (one year before he performed his
famous operation). Bernard performed less than 50 dog operations
and his best survival rates were 10 days. The Americans restored their
dogs to full health for a year or more. Shunway, in particular, felt
cheated by Bernard.
When was the next transplant?
The following day, Kantrowitz carried out the next operation and
between Dec. 3rd and Jan. 6th, five human heart transplants took place.
On Jan. 2nd, Bernard performed his second heart transplant and the
patient survived for 19 months. His longest lived recipient survived for
23 years.
How succesful were those early operations?
Not very. With the advent of Cyclosporin, the immunosuppressive
drug, the success rate improved considerably. Thousands of lives are
now saved every year by transplantation and 95% of recipients can be
expected to live for more than 5 years.
What happens during a heart transplant operation?
The chest is opened down along the breast bone. The heart is cut
from the body and the blood vessels are connected to a machine to
pump it around the body and provide oxygen. In a separate theater the
heart of the donor is removed and then this heart is sewn into the
recipient. When completed, the heart is stimulated into beating again.
Once beating, the surgeon checks for any leaks. Once happy that there
are none, the chest cavity is sewn up again. The recipient will then be
given antibiotics to prevent infection and anti-rejection drugs to prevent
the body rejecting the new heart. All going well, the patient shpuld be
able to leave the hospital after about 15 days and lead a relatively
normal life again.
What happened to Dr. Bernard?
His success came at a price. He was married and divorced 3
times. He has 6 children. He is often referred to as the "Doctor of
Hearts", referring to his love life rather than his operating successes. His
is believed to have dated Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren.
He developed rheumatoid arthritis in his hands and had to
abandon surgery because of it. In 1986, his reputation suffered when
he became associated with an "anti-aging" cream, whose approval was
withdrawn. Although he later expressed regret for endorsing this
product, he did make a lot of money from it. It also tarnished his medical
reputation.
He took up writing and apart from his autobiography, he also
wrote a cardiology textbook and several novels, including a thriller
about organ transplants.
He had hoped to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine and believed
that he didn?t because he was a "white South African". He died in
2001 while on holiday in Cyprus. He died of an acute asthma attack.
Do any Heart transplants take place in Ireland.
The Mater Hospital began its heart transplant programme in 1985
and since then hundreds of successful transplants have taken place. In
America, Heart transplants are the third most common transplants after
Corneal and Kidney transplants. More heart transplants would take
place if there were more donors.
What does the future hold for Heart transplants?
One of the big hopes is stem cell research. Recent studies have
suggested that taking cells from bone marrow and injecting them directly
into the heart can help it to repair. Stem-cell therapy is already being
used in trials to tackle the damage caused by a heart attack, and to
grow new blood vessels to get around blockages.
It is believed that in the near future, scientists will be able to create
new hearts for patients using cell therapy. The procedure, called whole
cellular reorganisation, is believed can be done with virtually any organ
of the body. Exciting times lie ahead. We?ve come a long way since
William Harvey showed how the circulatory system worked 400 years ago.
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