title: The evolution of heart transplantation.
abstract: Now that heart transplantation is a common therapeutic modality, it has lost much of its earlier mystique. Numerous issues related to donor allocation, immunosuppression, quality-of-life of the recipient, patient selection, cost-effectiveness, and a myriad of ethical considerations remain. Current policies, procedures, legislation, and techniques are the result of a long progression of experimental and clinical advances and public reaction. Current practices and legislation are a part of heart transplantation's evolutionary process. The process can change and advance as rapidly as it did on December 3, 1967, with the announcement of the first successful human-to-human heart transplantation.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Krau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000266:history*