28 March, 2019
The Clinic’s Cardiovascular Surgery performs two heart transplants simultaneously
The Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona led by Dr Manuel Castellà has, for the first time, performed two heart transplants simultaneously. Although only one of them was planned and two heart transplants had never been performed simultaneously, the result of both surgeries has been “very satisfactory”.
AN OPTIMAL SITUATION
On the day of the surgery, a full cardiovascular surgery team had been organised to carry out the explant and implant of a patient on the waiting list. At that time, the Hospital Clínic received the offer of a donor for a patient in emergency 0. The Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Dr Manuel Castellà, had to make a decision and mobilise a new team in 10 minutes. Now, Dr Castellà recognizes that “we had doubts, but we did not want to nor could we lose hearts when we had two patients in an optimal situation for the surgery”.
“We had doubts, but we did not want to nor could we lose hearts when we had two patients in an optimal situation for the surgery”
THE SECOND TEAM RETURNED VOLUNTARILY
As neither of the explants could be delayed, another complete explant and implant team was mobilised for the second heart transplant. The professionals who performed the second transplant were not on duty and had already finished their shift. They voluntarily returned at dawn to perform a surgery that lasted more than five hours. For this reason, Dr Elena Sandoval, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Clinic, says that it is an “example of success for patients but also for all professionals.”
There is a similar precedent in 2003, when the cardiovascular surgery team of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona performed two heart transplants in less than 24 hours.
In its statement, the Cardiovascular Clinical Institute and the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the Hospital Clínic also congratulated and thanked the professionals who participated in the first two simultaneous heart transplants.
