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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Profile America — Saturday, December 3rd. Two pioneering efforts to save the lives of patients with terminal heart problems occurred this month in the past. On this date in 1967, the first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christian Barnard in South Africa. And 29 years ago yesterday, the first artificial heart transplant took place in Salt Lake City, as Dr. Barney Clark, who was near death, received a permanent artificial heart designed by Dr. Robert Jarvik. Today, the two procedures complement each other, with artificial hearts keeping failing patients alive until a donor heart becomes available. Each year, well over 2,000 transplants take place in the U.S. Nearly 87 percent of heart transplant patients survive at least one year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2011, p. 584, 586
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 181
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