Dr Chris Barnard performs the world's first human heart transplant. On 3 December 1967, South African doctor, Dr Christiaan (Chris) Barnard, performed the world's first human to human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.

The first human heart transplant operation was conducted by Dr. Christiaan Barnard on Louis Washkansky in 1967. This was a major breakthrough in the field of medicine and paved the way for further advancements in heart transplantation.

Details:
• The heart transplant operation was conducted at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The patient, Louis Washkansky, had end-stage heart failure and was expected to die within a few days without a transplant.
• The donor heart was from a young woman who had died in a car accident.
• The operation lasted for 9 hours and was successful in replacing Washkansky's damaged heart with the donor heart.
• However, Washkansky died 18 days later due to pneumonia, which was a common complication with early heart transplant surgeries.

Significance:
• Dr. Christiaan Barnard's successful heart transplant operation was a major milestone in medical history and opened up new possibilities for organ transplantation.
• It demonstrated that it was possible to replace a damaged heart with a healthy donor heart and gave hope to millions of people suffering from end-stage heart failure.
• It also paved the way for further research and development in heart transplantation, leading to improved surgical techniques and better outcomes for patients.

Conclusion:
The first human heart transplant operation conducted by Dr. Christiaan Barnard on Louis Washkansky in 1967 was a landmark achievement in the field of medicine. It demonstrated the feasibility of heart transplantation and opened up new possibilities for treating end-stage heart failure. Despite the initial setbacks, heart transplantation has come a long way in the past decades, and is now a well-established procedure with high success rates.

Louis Washkansky (1913 - 21 December 1967) was the recipient of the world's first human heart transplant.

Washkansky died of double pneumonia eighteen days after the transplant because of a weakened immune system.