gerosa
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Padua, heart stopped for 20 minutes is successfully transplanted

16.05.2023

On 11 May, a heart that had stopped beating for 20 minutes was successfully transplanted in a 45-year-old male patient in Padua.

The announcement, from the University Hospital of Padua, of this unprecedented heart transplant with an organ that ceased all electrical activity for 20 minutes came from a donor who had suffered cardiac death and irreversible brain damage.

This is the same hospital where in 1985 the first successful heart transplantation took place in Italy. That historic event occurred when Ilario Lazzari received the heart of Francesco Bunello (of Treviso) thanks to cardiac surgeon Dr. Vincenzo Gallucci who performed this historic transplantation and for which the Padua Heart Surgery Center is named in his memory.   

Remarks from Luca Zaia, president of Veneto. “As of today, cardiac surgery will never be the same. This moment restores hope to many patients awaiting a heart transplant. We owe our immense gratitude to the entire University Hospital of Padua, to Professor Gino Gerosa and his team and to Dr. Paolo Zanatta, Director of Anesthesia and Resuscitation of the Ca' Foncello, who performed the organ removal."

“This is the first time in the world that a heart, which has stopped beating for such a long time, can be reactivated and used for a heart transplant. – adds Zaia - this opens up a new frontier with respect to the possible use of organs for transplantation. According to experts, this extraordinary result could lead to a 30% increase in the number of transplants in Italy."