They performed the first heart transplant in Czechoslovakia 50 years ago

Bratislava, 9 July (TASR) – The first heart transplant in the former Czechoslovakia, but also in Central and Eastern Europe, was performed by a medical team led by Prof. MUDr. Karol Šiška, DrSc. and doc. MUDr. Ladislav Kužela, DrSc. 50 years ago, on 9 July 1968, at II. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University (LF UK) in Partizánská street in Bratislava. It is considered the first despite the fact that the patient died after the operation due to other diseases. It was the 24th heart transplant in the world.

Transplantation with extracorporeal blood circulation was preceded by experimental and clinical preparation. In the years 1966-1968, MUDr. Cono on a study stay at the Pacific Medical Center in the United States of America, where after defending his thesis he obtained the scientific degree of Master of Clinical Sciences. After returning to Slovakia, he was the initiator of this transplant. The heart donor was a 46-year-old man who suffered a fatal brain injury from falling off a balcony and the recipient was a 54-year-old woman. The operation lasted more than five hours. On the evening of July 9, 1968, however, sad news arrived: the transplanted heart failed. The patient died in the operating room due to other diseases.

The world’s first historic heart transplant was performed by Christiaan Neethling Barnard on December 3, 1967 in Cape Town, South Africa. Reactions ranged from enthusiasm to skepticism. However, this very first heart transplant was a strong incentive for dozens and hundreds of heart surgeons to choose to follow Barnard.

They also included a group of doctors in Bratislava, where they performed the first but unsuccessful heart transplant in the former Czechoslovakia on 9 July 1968. The efforts of most transplant teams around the world have ended in a similar fashion.

The first successful heart transplant in the former Czechoslovakia was performed by surgeon Pavel Firt on January 31, 1984 at the Prague Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM). The recipient lived with a second heart for 13 years and died of kidney failure due to long-term drug stress in the body.

The first heart in the history of the independent Slovak Republic (SR) was transplanted by a team of doctors and nurses under the guidance of cardiac surgeon MUDr. Viliam Fischer, CSc., FICS on the night of March 20-21, 1998 at the Institute National Cardiovascular Diseases (NÚSCH) in Bratislava to a patient of then 58 years. Štefan Petrík from Jura nad Hronom lived with his new heart for 9.5 years, while he did not die of heart disease.

A systematic heart transplant program in Slovakia was founded by prof. MUDr. Juraj Fabián, DrSc., FESC. Since the start of the transplant program in Slovakia, teams have been continuously trained that can transplant the heart within about five hours. Patients can therefore lead a full life. NÚSCH, as, is the only workplace in Slovakia where heart transplants are performed.

Heart transplant is the standard treatment method for otherwise intractable chronic heart failure. The number of patients who would need such treatment is steadily increasing. This is a global trend.