Surgeons have carried out the UK’s first transplant of a non-beating heart.
Donor hearts are usually from people who are brain-stem dead, but whose hearts are still beating. In this case, the organ came from a donor after their heart and lungs had stopped functioning.
Surgeons at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire restored function to the heart before placing it on an Organ Care System to maintain its quality before it was transplanted.
It is the first time such a procedure has been performed in Europe.
Surgeons at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire restored function to the heart before placing it on an Organ Care System to maintain its quality before it was transplanted to 60-year-old Huseyin Ulucan from London
Recipient Huseyin Ulucan, 60, from London, who underwent surgery earlier this month, had a heart attack in 2008. He said: ‘Before the surgery, I really had no quality of life. Now I’m feeling stronger every day.’
The hospital said Mr Ulucan was making ‘remarkable progress’ after spending only four days in its critical care unit before being allowed to go home.
Currently not everyone who needs a heart transplant can have one due to there not being enough suitable ones available.
However, it is hoped that by using non-beating hearts, the number of people able to have heart transplants could increase by up to 25 per cent in the UK alone, saving hundreds of lives.
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