Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001) Christiaan Barnard was a South
African cardiac surgeon who achieved fame by performing the
first successful heart transplant in the world. In 1967 he
transplanted the heart from a young brain-dead woman to Louis
Washkansky, who had incurable heart disease. Although Washkansky
lived for only 18 days after his surgery, Barnard had passed a
milestone in transplant surgery and became famous overnight.
Barnard's experimental surgery prompted other surgeons to
attempt heart transplants. In 1968 a hundred heart transplant
procedures were attempted but they all failed and every
recipient died. The advent of drugs such as ciclosporin, which
reduced the chances of organ rejection, ensured that patients
survived for longer periods than Louis Washkansky. Barnard
continued to transplant hearts and his longest-surviving patient
lived for 24 years after her surgery. Related Themes and Topics
C Barnaard, One Life (Cape Town: Harold Timmins, 1969) W F Bynum
and Bynum, Dictionary of Medical Biogr