50 years ago, a pessimistic view for heart transplants

Excerpt from the September 14, 1968 issue of Science News

heart transplant surgery

CHANGE OF HEART  50 years ago, the first surgeon to perform a human-to-human heart transplant didn’t think his patients would live five years. Now, more than half of patients make it 10 years with new tickers.

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Transplanted hearts will be shortlived

Now that heart recipients can realistically look forward to leaving the hospital and taking up a semblance of normal life, the question arises, what kind of semblance, and for how long? South Africa’s Dr.