In Padua, Veneto, the world's first totally beating-heart transplant from the donor, both during harvesting and at the time of implantation in the recipient patient. The record-breaking operation was performed in the Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova, by the team of the Cardiac Surgery UOC directed by Prof. Gino Gerosa.

The operation took place two weeks ago: the patient, a 65-year-old man who was suffering from postischemic heart disease, is doing well and will return home before Christmas. It's a revolution that will improve the outcomes of donor heart transplantation with a stopped heart, avoiding controlled heart failure, nullifying ischemia and reperfusion damage at both harvest and transplant, ensuring faster recovery of cardiac function, and improving postoperative cardiac performance.

Also Prof. Gerosa last May 11 had performed the first transplant in Italy from a controlled still-heart donor. Finally, it should be recalled that on November 14, 1985, at the Company itself, Prof. Vincenzo Gallucci's Cardiac Surgery team had successfully completed the first heart transplant in Italy.

“It is the world's first totally beating heart,” Gerosa said. And he explained, “Whereas in a usual heart transplant, the organ is harvested and implanted from a stationary position, in this case it has always beaten and therefore the whole transplant was performed with a beating heart from the time of harvest to the time of implantation.” “We are very happy first and foremost for the patient and especially because this result paves the way for many other patients,” Gerosa notes, ”It is a real revolution because we better protect the heart and the life expectancy of the patient who receives it. “The first thanks go to the donor's family members, as without donation all this would not have been possible,” he adds.