Rome -. The achievement of the first successful transplant of a heart that died within 20 minutes represents a revolutionary contribution to world health that could save a third more patients awaiting donations, experts say today.
Gino Gerosa, head of the medical team that carried out this operation, said in statements published on the website of the newspaper L’Adigetto: “For a long time it was believed that this was not possible, but we believed in it and.” “Once we got approval from the National Transplant Center, we got it right on the first try.”
“The heart is working very, very well,” said Gerosa, referring to the success of this transplant, performed last May 11 on a 45-year-old patient at the Gallucci center in the city of Padua, in the northern Veneto region. who will remain in intensive care until this Wednesday.
The exceptionality lies precisely in the timing, he explained, because “in the world, a heart transplant from a donor in cardiac arrest has long been a reality, but it is only approved three to five minutes after the finding of a flat electrocardiogram.” “.
“We were the first in the world to show that a heart that has stopped all electrical activity for 20 minutes can be used for a heart transplant,” he said.
This extraordinary result could lead to a 30.0 percent increase in the number of organs available to patients on the waiting list, the expert said.
The specialist, in statements to this medium, warned that in Italy every year 150,000 people die of heart failure, while around 800 are on the organ waiting list and only 250 patients receive a transplant.
“The real solution will come when we have an artificial, total, Italian heart at our disposal,” emphasized Gerosa, who is also one of the country’s most important researchers for the development of this prosthesis.