Heart to Heart

521 Words2 Pages

In the early morning of December 3, 1967, in the least suspecting place, an unknown physician would perform the first ‘heart to heart’ transplant. Hailed as a major medical achievement, Christiaan Barnard would sky rocket to international stardom and go on to repeat his “successes.” Louis Washkansky, a South African grocer, suffering from end-stage heart failure. Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by the heart’s inability to adequately pump blood to sustain the body’s metabolic functions. Vital organs no longer receiving the oxygen that was needed, would slowly cease to function. Symptoms involve fatigue, weakness, shortness breath, and leg swelling. As heart-failure progresses and treatment options become more complex, disease management typically comes down to, (1) the do everything approach or (2) the comfort strategy approach. Knowing he would soon die, Louis Washkansky, took the ‘do everything’ approach. When suggested by Barnard “we can put a healthy heart into you, after taking out your heart that’s no longer good out, there’s a chance you can get back to ...

Open Document