Primo transplant Of Heart from an organ that had ceased all electrical activity for 20 minutes. The world record is from the hospital of Padova.
20-minute stopped heart transplant: it’s the first time in the world
In the past it had happened that transplants had been performed with a “stopped” heart for a few minutes.
But Italian law, in these cases, prescribes that the collection from cadavers can only take place when the heart has ceased activity for at least 20 minutes.
Transplantation is like the cry of a newborn baby. The first breath.
– Gino Gerosa -⁰⁰#TEDxPadova2019 #Rebirth #25maggio pic.twitter.com/fgyWNIkiQK— TEDxPadova (@TEDxPadova) May 25, 2019
«First in the world – he said Gino Gerosadirector of cardiac surgery in Padua – we have demonstrated that a heart that has ceased all electrical activity for 20 minutes can be used for a cardiac transplant”.
In Padua the first heart transplant from a dead donor with a stopped heart, here is the operating room
Turin, liver transplant immediately after childbirth: saves a 38-year-old woman
The donor is a man suffering from cardiac death
The donor was a man who was in Treviso, suffering from “cardiac death”, with contextual, irreversible brain damage, which made any aggressive treatment useless.
The law, also in this case, imposes the observation for 20 minutes of residual brain activity, until it shuts down, before proceeding with the explantation of the heart.
Possible to increase transplants by 30%
«This extraordinary result could lead to a 30% increase in the number of transplantsin a relatively short period of time”. She stated it Gino Gerosathe heart surgeon who led the Paduan team.
The operation was carried out on May 11 on a 46-year-old man with heart disease who had already been operated on as a pediatric patient and had been on the waiting list for a transplant for two years.
The importance of the intervention was underlined, in the announcement press conference, also by the resident of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia.
“This is exciting news – he declared – it opens a new page in the history of heart transplantation, the result of an exceptional teamwork carried out by the Veneto healthcare system and by these top-notch professional doctors”.
“International data tell us that the use of hearts from this type of donor could lead to a 30% increase in the number of heart transplants, and this could certainly improve the satisfaction of patients waiting for a transplant”. This was underlined by the director of the National Transplant Center (Cnt), Massimo Cardilloregarding the intervention performed in the hospital of Padua.
«The intervention carried out in Padua – Cardillo said – is certainly a new opportunity that arises from the experience that has already been made for years in Italy in the use of donor organs with the verification of cardio-circulatory death. We were already using liver and kidneys and now we are able to use hearts too, thanks to the technology and experience of centers such as the one in Padua which have performed hundreds of heart transplants».
Barbara Capovani, donated the organs of the psychiatrist killed: the doctor also saved the life of a child in Rome
This type of intervention, he clarified, «has already been done abroad for some time and it is a very consolidated experience; now Italy is also starting and this is very positive. In Italy there is an assessment of death with very rigorous criteria and this has made the use of these organs technically a little more complex. Today, however, we are able to do it and this will be of great benefit to patients». The director of the Cnt then recalled how there are in our country today 600 patients who are waiting for a heart transplant and about 250 operations are performed every year, therefore the need is not currently satisfied: «We have long waiting times and unfortunately many waiting patients die and do not get to the transplant. It is therefore important to use all available organs and hearts from deceased donors.”
“Obviously – Cardillo concluded – I reiterate that the important concept is that citizens confirm their consent to organ donation which can be expressed during life in various ways and the renewal of the identity card. This is the only way we have to ensure that waiting patients receive the care and therapy they need”.