This first heart transplant and subsequent ongoing research in cardiac transplantation at the University of Cape Town and in a few other dedicated centres over the subsequent 15 years laid the foundation for heart transplantation to become a well-established form of therapy for end-stage cardiac disease. This relative success amid many failures worldwide did much to generate guarded optimism that heart transplantation would eventually become a viable therapeutic option. In the lay media as well, this first transplant remains the most publicised event in world medical history.Īlthough the first heart transplant patient survived only 18 days, four of Groote Schuur Hospital’s first 10 patients survived for more than one year, two living for 13 and 23 years, respectively. The article describing this remarkable achievement was published in the South African Medical Journal just three weeks after the event and is one of the most cited articles in the cardiovascular field. In 1967, he led the team that performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant. Following surgical training in South Africa and the USA, Barnard established a successful open-heart surgery programme at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town in 1958.
Christiaan (Chris) Barnard was born in 1922 and qualified in medicine at the University of Cape Town in 1946.
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