Author: Abikenova Ayazhan
Christian Barnard is a famous cardiac surgeon who has made a colossal breakthrough in medicine. He was the first to transplant a heart from person to person. More than 50 years have passed after this operation, but doctors still admire the courage and innovation of the famous surgeon.
In 1946, Barnard graduated from the medical faculty in Cape Town, in his hometown, and in 1956 trained at the University of Minnesota, where he achieved great success in the clinic. His mentors were advanced heart surgeons who practiced the treatment of congenital heart defects and valve prosthetics. In general, Barnard has always been a member of the "medical elite." By 1965, Barnard and six other surgeons who worked under his direction had over 1,500 heart operations, including 834 operations with acquired heart defects and 737 with congenital pathology. Of course, such success was achieved as a result of the application of new methods and innovative surgical techniques, which is why Barnard was called the “innovator of his business”.
Returning to Cape Town, Barnard decided to take on a heart transplant. At the same time, it was practiced by N. Chumway and R. Lower at Stanford University, but only at the experimental level. Possessing great theoretical knowledge and witnessing the experiments of V.P. Demikhov, Moscow doctor and scientist and author of "Transplantation of vital organs in the experiment," Barnard began active preparation for a heart transplant in the laboratory. Together with his team, Barnard experimented with heart and kidney transplantation in dogs. In 1967, he made the first kidney transplant in Cape Town, after which the patient lived for 20 years. This was the preparatory phase of Barnard before a critical heart transplant operation in the clinic.
December 3, the so-called "day X". A suitable donor appeared for Vashkansky's recipient, 24-year-old Denise Darval, who was hit by a drunk driver, after which she was diagnosed with brain death. Louis Washkanski is a 54-year-old native of Lithuania who suffered from severe congestive heart failure after several myocardial infarctions with severe diabetes mellitus and peripheral arteriopathy, and also with a long smoking history. The operation lasted 7 and a half hours and was successful. Since it happened at night and not in the best of circumstances, there is not a single photograph or video from that event, even the hospital management was not aware of this discovery. But after a couple of days the whole world found out about this, and Barnard became a star among the medical community.
In the first 10 days after the transplant, the patient had no complaints, and he was actively recovering, but after a few days due to the appearance of formations in the lungs, his condition worsened sharply. Doctors decided that this was pulmonary edema, as a response to a transplanted organ, and strengthened immunosuppressive therapy. An erroneous assessment of the patient's condition led to the fact that on the 18th day Washkanski died of severe bilateral pneumonia.
Even after such an outcome, Barnard did not give up, but only improved. Together with the team, he conducted even more experiments, honed his skills and improved his technique, and over time, the life expectancy of his patients after transplantation only increased. Compared to Stanford colleagues, the survival rate for Barnard patients was much higher (500-600 days more).
Christian Barnard never rested on his laurels, he continued his career and was engaged in clinical research, and even after retiring at 61, he continued to consult transplant specialists and performed operations. After Barnard’s death, he was named after him: the cardiac surgery department at the University of Cape Town, and then the whole private hospital in Cape Town.
Translated by: Uspanova Ainura
Copy editor: Issabayeva Madina
