Has heart transplantation any future?

Abstract

This is the second Sir Denis Browne Memorial lecture, delivered on the 12th September, 1969, under the auspices of the Malta Section of the International College of Surgeons, at the Medical School of the Royal University of Malta. The initial focus of this lecture is about the first clinical heart transplantation which was carried out by Dr. Christiaan Barnard`s surgical team in 1967. The news spread world-wide, and certainly this was a great step forward in Medicine, though moral and ethical questions started to emerge. A discussion investigating the reasons why the heart transplant caused such a tremendous uproar is drawn. Furthermore, reference is made to the tremendous progress done in the ability of physicians to treat heart disease. Notwithstanding little progress has been made in the treatment of diseases affecting the heart muscle, whereby this has become the greatest challenge; diseases affecting the cardiac muscle, failure of the pump, which is today the most common cause from heart disease. Therefore, in searching for a remedy, the heart transplant is the solution. The type of patient that may benefit by the operation is described and an analysis of five case studies is provided. In addition, three criteria are mentioned in order to consider if a patient is dead before starting a heart transplant. Problems encountered during the operation are also discussed, including rejection.