Barnard, Christiaan

Barnard, Christiaan

▪ South African surgeon
in full  Christiaan Neethling Barnard 
born November 8, 1922, Beaufort West, South Africa
died September 2, 2001, Paphos, Cyprus
 South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant operation.

      As a resident surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town (1953–56), Barnard was the first to show that intestinal atresia, a congenital gap in the small intestine, is caused by an insufficient blood supply to the fetus during pregnancy. This discovery led to the development of a surgical procedure to correct the formerly fatal defect. After completing doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota (1956–58), he returned to the hospital as senior cardiothoracic surgeon, introduced open-heart surgery to South Africa, developed a new design for artificial heart valves, and began extensive experimentation on heart transplantation in dogs.

      On December 3, 1967, Barnard led a team of 20 surgeons in replacing the heart of Louis Washkansky, an incurably ill South African grocer, with a heart taken from a fatally injured accident victim. Although the transplant itself was successful, Washkansky died 18 days later from double pneumonia, contracted after destruction of his body's immunity mechanism by drugs administered to suppress rejection of the new heart as a foreign protein.

      Barnard's later transplant operations were increasingly successful; by the late 1970s a number of his patients had survived for several years. Barnard served as the head of the cardiac unit at Groote Schuur Hospital until 1983, at which time he retired from active surgical practice. He wrote several novels and two autobiographies, Christiaan Barnard: One Life (1969) and The Second Life (1993).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Barnard, Christiaan Neethling — ▪ 2002       South African surgeon (b. Nov. 8, 1922, Beaufort West, S.Af. d. Sept. 2, 2001, Paphos, Cyprus), performed the first transplant of a heart from one human to another (1967), the first “piggyback” heart transplant, in which a second… …   Universalium

  • Barnard,Christiaan Neethling — Bar·nard (bärʹnərd, bär närdʹ), Christiaan Neethling. Born 1923. South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant (1967). * * * …   Universalium

  • Barnard, Christiaan (Neethling) — born Nov. 8, 1922, Beaufort West, S.Af. died Sept. 2, 2001, Paphos, Cyprus South African surgeon. He showed that intestinal atresia is caused by deficient fetal blood supply, which led to development of a surgical procedure to correct the… …   Universalium

  • Barnard, Christiaan —  (1922–2001) South African heart surgeon. Note aain first name …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Barnard, Christiaan (Neethling) — (8 nov. 1922, Beaufort Occidental, República de Sudáfrica–2 sep. 2001, Paphos, Chipre). Cirujano sudafricano. Demostró que la atresia intestinal es causada por insuficiente suministro sanguíneo fetal, lo que condujo al desarrollo de un… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Christiaan Barnard — Christiaan Neethling Barnard Born November 8, 1922 Beaufort West, Cape Province, Union of South Africa Died September 2, 2001( …   Wikipedia

  • Christiaan Neethling Barnard — (* 8. November 1922 in Beaufort West, Südafrika; † 2. September 2001 in Paphos, Zypern) war ein südafrikanischer Herzchirurg und Pionier auf dem Gebiet der Herztransplantationen. Am 3. Dezember 1967 führte ein südafrikanisches… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Christiaan Neethling Barnard — Christiaan Barnard Pour les articles homonymes, voir barnard. Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 novembre 1922 2 septembre 2001) était un chirurgien cardiaque sud africain, qui devint célèbre pour avoir réussi la première… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Barnard — Barnard, Christian Barnard, Edward Emerson * * * (as used in expressions) Barnard, Christiaan (Neethling) Barnard, estrella de Barnard, Henry …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Christiaan Barnard — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Barnard. Christiaan Barnard. Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 novembre 1922 2  …   Wikipédia en Français

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