First Successful Heart Transplant
December 3, 1967South African surgeon Dr. Christian Barnard (1922-2001) made medical history at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on December 3, 1967 by completing the first successful heart transplant. The patient – 59-year-old Louis Washkansky – received his new heart from a 25-year-old woman who died after being hit by a car. Unfortunately, Washkansky's immune system was weakened by the anti-rejection medication. He contracted pneumonia and died 18 days later.
The anti-rejection medications would continue to hamper Dr. Barnard's efforts and claim the lives of many of his transplant patients. The high mortality rate forced surgeons to stop conducting heart transplant operations until 1974. That's when a Norwegian researcher discovered the drug cyclosporin. Cyclosporin worked to keep the body from rejecting a donated organ as well as helped to protect patients from infection.
