{"id":32091,"date":"2022-06-16T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T04:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=32091"},"modified":"2022-10-19T10:03:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T08:03:44","slug":"30-years-of-heart-transplantation-celebrated-with-awards-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2022\/06\/30-years-of-heart-transplantation-celebrated-with-awards-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"30 years of heart transplantation celebrated with awards ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
Seven people were presented with commemorative medals at the Heart for Heart Foundation’s ceremony at Semmelweis University, to mark the 30th anniversary of the first heart transplant in Hungary. The medal pays tribute to the memory of professor Zolt\u00e1n Szab\u00f3 as well, who performed the first heart transplant in Hungary. The plans are to award the medal every year to those who have contributed to the world-leading Hungarian heart transplant programme through their outstanding professional and managerial achievements. The event, held in the Semmelweis Salon, was attended by representatives of the patient organisation, new heart patients and leading figures in the field of heart transplantation.<\/div>\n

\"\"“Over the past 30 years, we have come through several stages to become one of Europe’s leading heart transplantation centres, also the only adult heart transplantation centre in Hungary”, emphasized Dr. B\u00e9la Merkely, Rector of Semmelweis University and Director of the V\u00e1rosmajor Heart and Vascular Centre, at the ceremony. He added that there is only one other heart transplantation site in the country, the Gottsegen Gy\u00f6rgy Hungarian Institute of Cardiology (GOKVI), where transplantation is performed for children and GUCH (adult congenital heart defect) patients.<\/p>\n

\n

Achievements to be proud of at international level are the result of the collective effort of those present<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

– the rector said, noting that the pandemic had prevented the commemorative event from taking place at the beginning of January.<\/p>\n

The historic date was January 3, 1992, when his master and mentor, Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Szab\u00f3, performed the first heart transplant in Hungary at the V\u00e1rosmajor Clinic, he recalled. “His pioneering work is of decisive importance to this day, and has laid the foundations for the development of Hungarian heart transplantation into a programme and a success story in Hungarian medicine,” said the rector, who was also present in the operating theatre to witness the important event as a junior doctor. He added that the experience had a lasting impact on his career at V\u00e1rosmajor, including the goals he and his colleagues set and achieved.<\/p>\n

\n

He also stressed that the first operation was absolutely successful, as S\u00e1ndor Schwartz lived with his new heart for 28 years. The second heart transplant patient, who had already been transplanted by Professor Dr. Elek Bodor, also lived for the same amount of time, and later received a second new organ. These two positive examples gave us a lot of strength to make these first 30 years so successful,” the rector pointed out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. B\u00e9la Merkely considered it an important step for the development of the heart transplantation programme that from 2012, the operation is carried out in a single clinic, the united V\u00e1rosmajor Heart and Vascular Centre, which enables the multidisciplinary approach essential in the field. The clinic now has a dedicated Transplant and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, and is in the process of further development to create a separate unit for patient selection and immediate post-operative care.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Joining Eurotransplant in 2013 was an important step in increasing surgical activity, as was the change in approach to donor management. In addition, the development of human resources and establishing a dedicated cardiac transplant team was essential. The creation of biobanks is an important milestone in heart failure research. All of this was necessary to become the second largest transplant centre in Europe by 2019,” he concluded.<\/p>\n

“The COVID-19 epidemic had a major impact on organ transplants around the world. As rector of the university and director of the clinic, I consider it a priority to regain and further strengthen our previous positions in this field as the pandemic subsides,” the rector added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Erd\u0151s, secretary of the Board of Trustees at the Heart for Heart Foundation, who himself is a heart transplant recipient since 11 years, took the initiative to hold a minute of silence in memory of those who are no longer with us. L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Erd\u0151s recalled that their organization was founded 29 years ago, to provide financial and moral support to those who are about to undergo the surgery. The foundation was set up by wo individuals. One of whom, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Dolgos, was present at the ceremony and said that since one of his colleagues received a new heart, this area became close to his heart, and inspired the creation of the foundation eventually.<\/p>\n

L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Erd\u0151s said that in the beginning they were like a small family, celebrating birthdays together, attending each other’s weddings, going to examinations together, encouraging each other. Today they have become a big family, with more than 400 heart transplant patients in Hungary, but they keep in touch with most of them, and organise doctor-patient meetings every year. “With a new organ, heart transplant recipients get a chance for a new life, so the day of the transplant is kind of a second birthday. We are grateful to all who helped us to this new life. Besides many others, thanks are due to our families, donors, doctors, nurses, coordinators, and health workers,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Szabolcs, professor of cardiac surgery at the Heart and Vascular Centre in V\u00e1rosmajor, President of the Heart for Heart Foundation, recalled in his presentation the events that took place in Hungary on the historic date of 3 January 1992, when the first Hungarian heart transplantation was executed. He presented the surgical team that performed the first operation under the leadership of professor Zolt\u00e1n Szab\u00f3, namely Dr. Elek Bodor, Dr. Endre Moravcsik, Dr. Tibor Gy\u00f6ngy, Dr. Ferenc Horkay, Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Szabolcs, Dr. Imre Kalm\u00e1r, Judit Horv\u00e1th, M\u00e1rta Fazekas, and Borb\u00e1la Forrai.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He reminded that Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Szab\u00f3 ordered a news blackout after the successful surgery, but the operation was made public on 8 January by an unknown caller. Dr. L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Enzt, professor of vascular surgery at the clinic, described the controversial way the press presented the news, recalling both negative and positive examples – he even presented articles of the time read by famous actors such as Juli B\u00e1sti, Istv\u00e1n Hirtling, K\u00e1roly Eperjes, and Tam\u00e1s Pusk\u00e1s.<\/p>\n

Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Szabolcs pointed out that the storm surrounding the first heart transplantation was tamed within a few days, and the media subsequently took an active role in supporting the Hungarian transplantation programme, reporting on the three further transplants that took place in the next few months with enthusiasm. He also recalled that 15 years ago \u2013 and 15 years after the first heart transplant in Hungary \u2013 Dr. Istv\u00e1n Harty\u00e1nszky’s team performed the first pediatric heart transplant in Hungary at GOKVI.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After a slow but persistent evolution, the Hungarian heart transplant programme took off in 2012-13 upon joining Eurotransplant, tripling the transplant activity of previous years.<\/p>\n

\n

It reached its peak in 2019, when 64 adult heart transplants were performed at V\u00e1rosmajor along with 8 children and GUCH patients at GOKVI. By 7 June 2022, a total of 726 transplants had been performed in Hungary, 656 of which at the V\u00e1rosmajor clinic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The event was briefly addressed by Dr. P\u00e9ter S\u00f3tonyi, rector emeritus, who was involved in the field as a professor and then director of the university\u2019s Institute of Justice and Forensics, practicing on cadavers. “The team’s belief that they could implant the organ as quickly as possible through practice and the respect with which they approached the subject was unforgettable,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The attending physician of the first heart transplant patient, Dr. K\u00e1roly Z\u00e1molyi, cardiologist of the former Medical Training Institute at Szabolcs Street, made a short speech as well. He recalled that S\u00e1ndor Schwartz lived a hospital-bound life, and it was on 4 October 1991 when the team informed him that a heart transplant was the only solution, to which he was very much looking forward to.<\/p>\n

L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Szak\u00e1cs, the doyen of the Hungarian new heart community was also present at the event, who was the eighth Hungarian to receive a new heart 28 year ago. As a piece of advice, he said that after a heart transplant, it is essential to have family support, a meaningful occupation and a healthy lifestyle – he himself was a member of the transplant team for 13 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The ceremony continued with the presentation of awards. To mark the 30th anniversary of the first heart transplant in Hungary, the Heart for Heart Foundation presented a Heart for Heart commemorative medal to the following:<\/p>\n