Americaʼs First Human Heart Transplantation The Concept, the Planning, and the Furor

Human heart transplantation was first conceived in the late 1960s. In December 1967, the world's first human heart transplantation was performed at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Three days later, the first recorded heart transplantation in the US was performed at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. While public reaction to the new treatment was generally favorable, there were those who felt that the use of heart transplantation was premature. Today, however, heart transplantation is well accepted, with nearly 70% of patients surviving more than 5 years. Although controversial, the early transplantations helped set the stage for later successes.