Christiaan Barnard

"Chris Barnard" redirects here. For other uses, see Chris Barnard (disambiguation).

Christiaan Barnard
Barnard in 1972
Born
Christiaan Neethling Barnard

(1922-11-08)8 November 1922
Beaufort West, Cape Province, Union of South Africa
Died2 September 2001(2001-09-02) (aged 78)
Paphos, Cyprus
Education
Years active1950–2001
Known forFirst successful human-to-human heart transplant
Spouses
Aletta Gertruida Louw
​
​
(m. 1948; div. 1969)​
Barbara Zoellner
​
​
(m. 1970; div. 1982)​
Karin Setzkorn
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 2000)​
Children6
RelativesMarius Barnard (brother)
Medical career
ProfessionSurgeon
Institutions
Sub-specialties

Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation.[1][2] On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident victim Denise Darvall into the chest of 54-year-old Louis Washkansky who regained full consciousness and was able to talk easily with his wife, before dying eighteen days later of pneumonia, largely brought on by the anti-rejection drugs that suppressed his immune system.[3][4][5][6] Barnard had told Mr. and Mrs. Washkansky that the operation had an 80% chance of success, an assessment which has been criticised as misleading.[7][8][9] Barnard's second transplant patient, Philip Blaiberg, whose operation was performed at the beginning of 1968, returned home from the hospital and lived for a year and a half.[5][10]

Born in Beaufort West, Cape Province, Barnard studied medicine and practised for several years in his native South Africa.[5] As a young doctor experimenting on dogs, Barnard developed a remedy for the infant defect of intestinal atresia. His technique saved the lives of ten babies in Cape Town and was adopted by surgeons in Britain and the United States.[11] In 1955, he travelled to the United States and was initially assigned further gastrointestinal work by Owen Harding Wangensteen at the University of Minnesota.[12] He was introduced to the heart-lung machine, and Barnard was allowed to transfer to the service run by open heart surgery pioneer Walt Lillehei.[13] Upon returning to South Africa in 1958, Barnard was appointed head of the Department of Experimental Surgery at the Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.[14]

He retired as head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Cape Town in 1983 after rheumatoid arthritis in his hands ended his surgical career. He became interested in anti-aging research, and in 1986 his reputation suffered when he promoted Glycel, an expensive "anti-aging" skin cream, whose approval was withdrawn by the United States Food and Drug Administration soon thereafter. During his remaining years, he established the Christiaan Barnard Foundation, dedicated to helping underprivileged children throughout the world. He died in 2001 at the age of 78 after an asthma attack.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Organ Donation, GlobalViewpoints, Margaret Haerens editor, 2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference The operation that took medicine into the media age, BBC, 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference S-Afr-Med-J-Barnard's-first-heart-transplant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mcrae2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference New-York-Times-2001-obituary-Christiaan-Barnard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Science-Museum-patient-Louis-Washkansky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Calculated-Risks-Gerd-Gigerenzer-2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Companion-To-Bioethics-Second-Edition-2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnard stating to Mr. and Mrs. Washkansky 80% of success, in Every Second Counts, by Donald McRae was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chicago-Tribune-Philip-Blaiberg-1968 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Every Second Counts, pages 48–49, Barnard's work remedying intestinal atresia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Every Second Counts, page 51 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Every Second Counts, page 53, Barnard meets Vince Gott was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference BMJ-Raymond-Hoffenberg-December-2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).