Humanity

The first human-to-human heart transplant in the United States and the second in the world was performed by Adrian Kantrowitz 3 days later, on December 6, 1967, at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. The recipient was an 18-day-old male infant who received the heart of a 2-day-old anencephalic male. The procedure, carried out under hypothermia rather than cardiopulmonary bypass, was technically successful; however, the patient died 6 hours after surgery with severe metabolic and respiratory acidosis. Barnard performed his second transplant on January 2, 1968, also at Groote Schuur Hospital. The patient, a 58-year-old man who received the heart of a 24-year-old man, was still alive on October 23, 1968—the date of compilation of the world's earliest heart transplants worldwide.