title: [The contribution of Christian Barnard to the history of transplantation medicine].
abstract: On December 3 rd, 1967, Christian Barnard conducted the first orthotopic heart                     transplant at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Barnard                     competed with the American heart surgeons Norman Shumway, Adam Kantrowitz and                     Richard Lower, who laid the experimental foundations for the operation in the                     previous years. The patient, Loius Washkansky, survived 18 days. Today, Barnard                     is revered as a pioneer in the history of medicine. However, his achievement is                     discussed controversially due to the unselective choice of patients, the lack of                     legal provision for the removal of organs in South Africa, and the absence of                     therapeutic options for prevention of transplant rejection. Barnard's success                     was supported by a well established interdisciplinary cooperation within                     different departments at Groote Schuur. The financial stability and the high                     standard of science in South Africa in the 1960 s contributed to this surgical                     victory. In 2011, the Department maintains a transplant program and conducts                     international renowned research in the field of biomechanics and in vivo tissue                     engineering.
authors.affiliation: Chris Barnard Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Cape Town, Südafrika. Hendrik.Schaefer@gmx.ch
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Schäfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D013019:South Africa; D014180:Transplantation / Q000266:history*