The first heart transplant of the year was performed tonight at the capital's "St. Ekaterina" Hospital, BNT reported. A young man received a second chance at life with a heart from Romania.
It was delivered in just 2 and a half hours by a crew of our Air Force. Who are the people who participated in the rescue operation and in the transplant itself?
A new chance for life - after the 42-year-old patient received an artificial heart last year, from that night a real one beats in his chest. The donor is a Romanian citizen 10 years younger than him.
"The boy had an aneurysm that ruptured, underwent an operation that was not successful and was brain dead", explained Dr. Yordan Makedonski, cardiac surgeon, "St. Catherine" Hospital.
His relatives made the noble decision to donate his organs. Due to the lack of a suitable recipient in Romania, they looked for one in our country. Thus, for the second time in several years, we are receiving a heart from Romania.
"In such a transplant, it is very important that there is a match between the donor and the recipient - blood type, weight, height, physique. For example, a woman who weighs 40 kg cannot be a donor for a man who weighs 110 kg, and vice versa,", emphasized Dr. Makedonski.
It is extremely important in this case that the organ is delivered on time. For a heart, the deadline is 4 hours. The Bulgarian military pilots with a "Pilatus" plane managed it in 2 and a half hours. This is the first medical mission for Captains Tanov and Petkov.
"We were carrying out our daily activities when a member of the airbase command came to us and told us that a donor situation had arisen, which required timely preparation of the flight", said Captain Simeon Tanov - commander.
"Everything was organized excellently by the Romanian side, as well as by our side", he added.
Our Military Transport Aviation has carried out 10 medical flights since the beginning of the year.
"There must be very good coordination between the medical teams, between the people who carry out the air transport, between the air traffic controllers, who provide navigation and correct all the traffic so that the flight can be carried out", said Captain Petyo Petkov - assistant commander.
The transplant was carried out by the team of Prof. Dimitar Petkov at the "St. Ekaterina". The patient, who received a new heart, is in stable condition and remains under observation in intensive care.