On October 26th, 1984, a groundbreaking medical procedure was performed at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A team of surgeons led by Dr. Jay Jayakumar, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, successfully transplanted a baboon's heart into an infant patient. This was the first time a baboon heart had been transplanted into a human, and it marked a significant milestone in the field of pediatric heart transplantation.
The infant, named "Baby Fae," was born with a congenital heart defect and was only a few days old when she underwent the surgery. Her parents had been told that there was no hope for their daughter's survival, but they were willing to try any experimental procedure that might save her life.
The transplant surgery was a complex and risky procedure, but it was deemed worth the risk due to the severity of Baby Fae's condition. The baboon heart was obtained from a donor animal that had been euthanized for unrelated health reasons. The heart was then transported to the hospital and transplanted into Baby Fae's chest.
The surgery was a success, and Baby Fae survived the procedure. She was able to breathe, eat, and even cry on her own, which were all significant milestones for her young age. However, the transplanted heart was not without its complications. Baby Fae's body rejected the baboon heart, and she eventually developed a severe case of rejection. Despite the best efforts of her medical team, Baby Fae passed away just 21 days after the transplant surgery.
While the outcome of the surgery was not what the medical team had hoped for, the transplant of a baboon heart into an infant was a pioneering achievement that paved the way for future advancements in pediatric heart transplantation. The procedure demonstrated the feasibility of using non-human primate hearts for transplantation, and it has since been used as a basis for further research and development in the field.
Sources:
History.com
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