Europe's first non-beating heart transplant a success

(AGI) London, March 27 - British doctors have performed thefirst successful heart transplant in Europe using a non-beatingheart. The operation was carried out in February in Papworthhospital in Cambridgeshire, UK. The organ came from a donorwhose heart and lungs had stopped functioning, while donorhearts are usually from people who are brain-stem dead, butwhose hearts are still beating. The recipient was a 60-year-oldman from London who had a heart attack in 2008. Theinnovative technique was used for the first time in Australiain 2014. The new procedure involved restarting the heart in thedonor five minutes after death. The organ was then removed andtransferred to a heart-in-a-box machine, where it was keptnourished and beating and its efficiency was monitored beforethe transplant surgery at Papworth. "I'm feeling stronger everyday now, and I walked into the hospital this morning withoutany problem," the patient said after the transplant. Papworthhospital said the technique could increase the number of heartsavailable by at least 25 percent. . .