Renowned heart specialist Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub today expressed delight at the successful outcome of a pioneering operation that restarted the original heart of a girl after her body rejected her donor organ.
Sir Magdi came out of retirement to advise on the groundbreaking surgery that reconnected 12-year-old Hannah Clark’s own dormant heart – 10 years after he performed her heart transplant.
The professor told BBC Breakfast that it was “not usual” for a transplant patient’s original heart to be left in place, and that his surgical team had thought there was a chance Hannah’s own heart would eventually recover.
“Her own heart has recovered. It really is absolutely wonderful news,” he told the programme. “At the time we had the idea that she had this very severe muscle disease and there was the outside possibility that her heart would recover. That was the idea and it worked out, so that was wonderful. Now she is a happy little girl with her own normal heart. The complications have all gone. This is a very happy ending.”
Bravo!
So where was her heart this whole time? On ice or still inside her?
“So where was her heart this whole time? On ice or still inside her?”
Tupperware technlogy must have greatly improved since I was a kid.
“The professor told BBC Breakfast that it was “not usual” for a transplant patient’s original heart to be left in place.”
So…I guess they left it inside her, which in some ways makes sense, but I wonder how much space it took up, and if it also continued beating? Very interesting.
My sister has three kidneys. One from a transplant and her original two. I didn’t figure the heart was the same way. Very cool.
I believe some transplant procedures keeps the patients atria, and just transplant the ventricles. The collapsed ventricles are probably just left in the pericardium with a vascular supply intact. I’m not a heart surgeon, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express 2 weeks ago. 🙂
I’m not a heart surgeon, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express 2 weeks ago. lol
That is good… It got me laughing.
I stayed at a Holiday Inn three weeks ago, so I got to assist.
All I can that for that is “wonderful”, for not saying “miraculous”. Our body is so well made…
They keep these things for that long? I thought when they took something out, they kind of just throw it to the dog sitting around and let them have it.