A team of Italian surgeons managed to transplant a heart that had stopped beating for 20 minutes, reports the Venice Health Department. The operation was performed on a 45-year-old man at the Padua hospital on May 11.
“We owe it to the entire Padua University Hospital, to Professor Gino Gerosa and his team ‘dedicated to cardiac surgery’ as well as to Dr. Paolo Zanatta, director of anesthesia and resuscitation” at the Treviso hospital “who removed the organ”, detailed the president of the Veneto region.
“We are the first in the world to have shown that a heart that has ceased all electrical activity for 20 minutes can be used for a heart transplant,” said Gino Gerosa.
Potential for 30% more transplants
The cardiologist estimates that this result “could lead to a 30% increase in the number of transplants in Italy.”
The operation was performed at the University Hospital of the city of Veneto, where almost 38 years ago, on November 14, 1985, the first heart transplant in Italy was successfully performed.
“Starting today, cardiac surgery will not be the same as before. It opens up a perspective that can give hope to so many patients waiting for a heart transplant,” replied Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region in Italy.
Source: BFM TV
