When Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967 the world hailed him as  a hero and millions of people thought that this was the answer to their prayer But what is the reality of heart  transplants and from where did the real advances come?

Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant after experimenting on animals.This lead to the inevitable mistakes of  species difference and trying to extrapolate this data to humans. The first patients died because of complications not seen in animal experiments! It was not till experience of many transplants on humans that life expectancy extended. Therefore the advances where from clinical studies not animal experiments!

.The first known pig-to-human transplant was carried out in India in December 1996 by Dhaniram Baruah who transplanted a pig's heart. The patient died. Dhaniram Baruah has been charged under India's 1994 Organ Transplant Act and faces a maximum fine of 10,000 rupees.

 

Two people have died in Germany after receiving organs from a donor infected with rabies. The donor was a 26-year-old woman who is thought to have spent time in India. The latest victim was a 70-year-old man who had a kidney transplant, a clinic at Hannoversch Muenden in northern Germany said. A woman who received a lung from the donor died at the weekend, while a third patient who received a pancreas and a kidney is seriously ill.

The German Organ Transplant Foundation said the woman had shown no clear symptoms for rabies, and her organs had been thoroughly tested for bacteria, viruses and tumours before the transplants

 

Reference: BBC News

Source: World wide web

Monday 21st February 2005