Health, heart from Athens to Turin for transplant without ever stopping beating

Milan, Nov 23 (LaPresse) – For the first time, a heart has been transplanted 1,600 km away without ever stopping its beat. This happened at the Molinette Hospital in Turin after the organ had departed from Athens. In the days marking the 40th anniversary of the first heart transplant performed in Italy, a new frontier has been surpassed: the heart to be transplanted is kept beating not only during transport but also while being implanted in the recipient. This is what occurred a few days ago at the Heart and Lung Transplant Center of the Molinette Hospital of the City of Health and Science of Turin. Incredible but true: the heart that would later be transplanted in the operating rooms of Cardiac Surgery (headed by Professor Mauro Rinaldi) resumed beating 1,600 km away (the distance from Athens, where the donor was located, to Turin) and was never stopped even during its implantation into the recipient’s chest, for a total of 8 hours. A true revolution that overcomes the barrier of time, as the heart is artificially perfused during all phases of the transplant (transport and implantation) without suffering from ischemia due to lack of blood (usually the organ has a maximum ischemia time of 4 hours to be transplanted).