Philip Blaiberg (24 May 1909 – 17 August 1969) was a South African

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial c ...

and the third person to receive a heart transplant. McRae, D. (2007). ''Every Second Counts''. Berkley. On 2 January 1968, in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, Dr.

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 operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident-v ...

performed the third heart transplant in the world on the 59 year old Blaiberg (Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz performed the world's second heart transplant, on a baby in the US, three days after Dr. Barnard performed the first). Blaiberg survived the operation, and continued with his life for 19 months and 15 days before dying from heart complications on 17 August 1969. The success of Blaiberg's heart transplant furthered the progress made in regard to heart transplantation.

Biography

Blaiberg was born in the small town of Uniondale in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

, later the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. After completing his dentistry studies in London, Blaiberg returned to Cape Town and opened up his dentistry practice. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Blaiberg joined the South African Army Medical Corps and served in the dental unit in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 1954 at the age of 45, Blaiberg suffered his first

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. He subsequently closed his dental practice and retired to Cape Town. In March 1967, Blaiberg's

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

failed, and it appeared that he was dying. The world's first human heart transplant operation was performed eight months later, on 3 December 1967. With the assistance of his brother Marius and 30 others, Dr.

performed the nine-hour operation on Louis Washkansky, a 55-year-old man suffering from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

. With the transplanted heart from

Denise Darvall __NOTOC__ Denise Darvall (27 February 19423 December 1967) was the donor in the world's first successful human heart transplant, performed at Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa, by a team of surgeons led by Christiaan Barnard. Accident and ...

, a victim of a road accident, Washkansky was able to survive the operation and lived for 18 days before dying of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

. On 2 January 1968, Blaiberg became the second person to successfully undergo a heart transplant. Blaiberg received the heart from 24-year-old Clive Haupt, a

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

man who had collapsed on a Cape Town beach the day before. That the identity of the heart donor had been released led to much heated controversy in South Africa. In the times of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, there was heated debate about the racism that existed in the country. Some even went on to say: Blaiberg had a smooth recovery after the successful heart transplant. Days after his operation, he was in good spirits, and had had no serious complications. The team of doctors led by Barnard were able to treat him for minor problems that occurred, and the doctors reduced his dosage of immunosuppressive drugs. Less than three months after the heart transplant operation, he was able to drive his car. Blaiberg was able to return to his normal lifestyle after the transplant, and as his wife said Philip "was running around like a machine". In June 1968, Blaiberg contracted

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

while undergoing routine tests in South Africa's Groote Schuur Hospital. Emergency treatment kept him alive, but Blaiberg suffered some long-term complications from the transplant. He died of chronic organ rejection on 17 August 1969, aged sixty. Blaiberg's autopsy showed severe and widespread

coronary artery The coronary arteries are the arterial blood vessels of coronary circulation, which transport oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. The heart requires a continuous supply of oxygen to function and survive, much like any other tissue or organ o ...

disease, a precursor to

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no s ...

. Barnard said "eventually the chronic rejection had damaged the heart to such an extent that it failed." But he added, "I would like to point out to you that I don’t think we should be discouraged and throw up our arms and say that this is now the end, because we have now operated on five patients. And the total days of survival so far of these five patients has been 1,001 days. I think that gives you an average survival of 200 days." The success of Blaiberg's transplant led to an immediate increase in the number of doctors performing heart transplants globally. By the end of August 1968, 34 heart transplants had been performed, and by December 1968, 100 hearts had been transplanted into 98 patients.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaiberg, Philip 1909 births 1969 deaths People from George Local Municipality South African Jews Heart transplant recipients South African dentists 20th-century dentists

Biography

See also

References