Iran performs first heart, 2-lung transplant

Iranian scientists have, for the first time in the country, simultaneously performed a heart and two-lung transplant operation on a teenager. A heart-lung transplant is a single procedure in which both the heart and lung are replaced in patients, particularly young adolescents, suffering from conditions which have severely damaged both these organs. Since the performance of the first such operation in 1981, not many heart-lung transplants have been performed in the world due to a shortage of suitable donors and its high mortality rate. "The combined heart and lungs transplant was performed on a 12 year old girl who has lost these organs due to an advanced underlying heart disease," said the head of the tuberculosis and respiratory disease research center, Ali Akbar Velayati. The operation was performed on Monday and the patient is reported to be in a good condition following the surgery. Velayati added that replacing the heart and both lungs in a single operation has a better outcome in an individual suffering from chronic respiratory or heart disease. Simultaneously transplanting both lungs is a long and complex surgery which is not reported successful in most cases; Iranian scientists, however, report the success of this operation to be more than 80 percent in Iran.