> 25th Anniversary of first heart transplant successfully in Spain

8/5/2009

On May 8th, 1984, the first heart transplant successfully made in Spain took place.

On May 8th, 1984, the first heart transplant successfully made in Spain took place. That supposed the point of beginning of a reference program. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary various commemorative events took place in the “Reial Acadèmia de Medicina de Catalunya” and in the “Hospital de Sant Pau”, of Barcelona, with the participation of the services of Cardiac and Cardiovascular Surgery of all Spain that have made heart transplants.

Photography: the patient after the intervention. The Dr. Josep Maria Caralps made the transplant in the ”Hospital de Sant Pau” to the patient Juan Alarcón Torres, along with the Dr. Josep Oriol Bonín, who carried out the extraction of the organ of the donor in the ”Hospital de Bellvitge”, and with the attendance and collaboration of many other specialists. At the present time the improvement of the techniques has increased the survival of the transplanted ones of heart, that has risen to the 90 percent in the first year.