National Taiwan University Hospital claims world’s first 'beating heart' transplant

台大醫院完成全球首例「跳動心臟」移植手術

Surgery reduces blood supply delay and helps preserve heart function


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National Taiwan University Hospital said Wednesday that its medical team completed a heart transplant surgery that kept the donor heart beating during the transplantation process.

The hospital held a press conference on Wednesday to provide details about the surgery, claiming it to be the world’s first of its kind. It said the procedure was also featured in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Techniques, per CNA.

The hospital said that a donor heart must be preserved at a low temperature once removed. However, it noted the organ begins to deteriorate as soon as it leaves the body, and this period without blood supply can affect the heart's function and the transplant's success rate.

Chi Nai-hsin (紀乃新), a cardiac surgeon at National Taiwan University Hospital, said that heart transplant surgeries needed to be completed within four hours to minimize the period without blood supply after the donor's heart is removed. He added the medical team used extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a machine that helps keep the donor heart beating throughout the transplant.

The hospital said it completed two such heart transplant surgeries. It explained this new procedure prevents heart damage caused by lack of blood and restores blood flow more effectively, which helps improve heart function and increases patient survival after surgery.

National Taiwan University Hospital Cardiac Surgery Director Yu Hsi-yu (虞希禹) said the hospital has completed over 700 heart transplant surgeries. Of these patients, 75% have lived for at least five years, and more than 50% have lived for 10 years or longer.

National Taiwan University Hospital Director Wu Ming-hsien (吳明賢) said the hospital performed its first heart transplant in 1996 and completed a heart transplant on a five-month-old child in 2000. In 2001, the hospital published a book on heart transplantation.

As of August, 344 people were awaiting heart transplants in Taiwan, while only about 80 heart donations become available annually. Heart transplantation is considered the most effective treatment for heart failure. However, Taiwan faces a significant shortage of organ donations.

In response, the hospital offers home-use ventricular assist devices to temporarily support heart function. Nearly 100 patients have received this service, with the youngest being 10 years old. Among them, 29 patients received a heart transplant while using the device.