Have two heart transplants at the same time

The first simultaneous heart transplant was performed at the Puerta Hierro Hospital in Madrid.

Eduardo Najjar
Latin Agency for Medicine and Public Health News

Last Friday at the Hospital de Hierro in Madrid an event unprecedented since the merging of the transplant area took place, in which a man who was suffering from a serious heart disease at the level of the heart received the required organ and at the same time another person who had suffered from a similar condition received an invitation hinting that there is indeed a heart.

It is the first time that the entity has encountered simultaneous interference in the cultivation area.

The first patient was 55 years old, and due to a severe heart attack, he had to permanently rely on a device that performs some cardiovascular function. Doctors emphasized that the only way to improve the patient’s quality of life is through the transplant.

Days ago, in the same institution, doctors found a donor heart. However, when the compatibility analyzes were performed, they realized that they were not suitable.

The second person was a 25-year-old patient who was in the intensive care unit and was in critical condition. Both patients coincide in the clinical picture of care and were priority transplant patients nationwide.

“Nothing like this has ever happened. If it hadn’t gone to the second donor, we would have lost it. Although we are not ready to do something like that, and less so now with a hospital full of coronavirus patients and so many people dedicated to that, it has been done. It was a very big effort, and the surgeons and the anesthetists joined it, ”explains Javier Segovia, head of cardiology at the hospital.

The hard work of the transplant

Since a critically ill patient is diagnosed and is a transplant candidate, wait and time are of great value as they play an important role in the search for a donor.

At the time of transplantation, it is a life-or-death race because the organs that are used to perform the operation cannot be exposed for a long period of time and it must be a fast, efficient and safe process.

When the group of doctors had the donor patient, they extracted the heart and it was promptly handed over to the surgeons, where Dr. Elsa Rivas was. On the other hand, Daniel Muñoz, a doctor from the foundation, went to find the other member of the second patient who had already been notified.

The older patient was already in the operating room and had his tube inserted to start the operation. After the organ was transplanted, it functioned as expected and began beating normally after two long minutes.

Both patients recovered after three days and with two organs he brought them back to life.