who performed the first successful human heart operation
Christiaan Barnard Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.[1][2] Growing up in Beaufort West, Cape Province, he studied medicine and practised for several years in his native country.[3] As a young doctor experimenting on dogs, Barnard developed a remedy for the infant defect of intestinal atresia. His technique saved the lives of ten babies in Cape Town and was adopted by surgeons in Britain and the United States.[4] In 1955, he travelled to the United States and was initially assigned further gastrointestinal work by Owen Harding Wangensteen.[5] He was introduced to the heart-lung machine, and Barnard was allowed to transfer to the service run by open heart surgery pioneer Walt Lillehei.[6] Upon returning to South Africa in 1958, Barnard was appointed head of the Department of Experimental Surgery at the Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.[7]