Christiaan Barnard and transplant surgery
On 3 December 1967, Groote Schuur Hospital in South Africa was put in the world鈥檚 spotlight when Christiaan Barnard performed the world鈥檚 first heart transplant. His patient, Louis Washkansky, only lived for 18 days before dying of pneumonia. However, his new heart beat strongly to the end.
Other heart transplants followed. However, one of the major problems of these early operations was the risk of rejection of the transplant by the body鈥檚 immune system. However, this was largely overcome by the development of drugs such as cyclosporine, which help the body to accept the replacement organ.
Barnard amazed the world by carrying out the first heart transplant. However, this was by no means the only example of transplant surgery in the past 100 years or so.
| Year/Decade | Key event |
| 1905 | The first cornea transplant |
| 1940s | During World War Two, plastic surgery was first used to rebuild the faces of badly burned airmen |
| 1952 | The first kidney transplant |
| 1961 | The first pacemakers were placed in the heart (to maintain a regular heartbeat) |
| 1962 | Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital reattached the arm of a 12-year-old boy |
| 1963 | The first liver transplant |
| 1967 | The first heart transplant |
| 1972 | Hip replacements were developed |
| 1980s | Bone marrow transplants were developed |
| 1982 | The first heart and lung transplant |
| Year/Decade | 1905 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first cornea transplant |
| Year/Decade | 1940s |
|---|---|
| Key event | During World War Two, plastic surgery was first used to rebuild the faces of badly burned airmen |
| Year/Decade | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first kidney transplant |
| Year/Decade | 1961 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first pacemakers were placed in the heart (to maintain a regular heartbeat) |
| Year/Decade | 1962 |
|---|---|
| Key event | Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital reattached the arm of a 12-year-old boy |
| Year/Decade | 1963 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first liver transplant |
| Year/Decade | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first heart transplant |
| Year/Decade | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Key event | Hip replacements were developed |
| Year/Decade | 1980s |
|---|---|
| Key event | Bone marrow transplants were developed |
| Year/Decade | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Key event | The first heart and lung transplant |
Transplants today
In 2005, doctors in France carried out a partial face transplant (including nose and mouth). Some surgeons are now considering the possibility of transplanting a whole head. Today, transplants of all sorts are commonplace, with up to 200 heart transplants alone carried out in the UK each year.
In fact, one of the main issues today is the lack of donors. In 2015, Wales became the first nation in the UK to make organ donation compulsory, with England and Scotland introducing similar laws in 2020. Adults are now regarded as having consented to organ donation unless they have opted out.
World Transplant Games Federation
The history of the World Transplant Games Federation can be seen on the organisation鈥檚 website. This extract is evidence of the success of transplant surgery across the world.
The first competitive sporting event for transplant recipients took place in Portsmouth, England in 1978 with around 99 competitors from the UK, France, Germany, Greece and the USA. Today we the hold the Summer World Transplant Games every two years and the Winter Games in the intervening years.鈥疘n 1987 the World Transplant Games Federation was officially formed and now has nearly 70 member countries worldwide.