On the night of March 20 to 21, 1998, Štefan Petrík, then aged 58, underwent a heart transplant, by a team led by Viliam Fischer. The patient lived for 9.5 more years, and did not die of heart failure, NÚSCH spokeswoman Dobroslaav Krajčovičová stressed for the TASR newswire.
The systemic programme of heart transplants in Slovakia was founded in 1998 by Juraj Fabián, who also established the Heart Transplant work-group.
Since the opening of the programme, a total of 242 heart transplants have been made until December 31, 2015. In total, the ward of heart failures and transplants of NÚSCH has cared for 302 patients, of which 201 were still living on December 31, 2015. By that date, 39 more were on waiting list; while in 2015, 43 potential donors were reported, TASR wrote.
