October 2023, Year XV, n. 10
Dilek Gürsoy
A Woman of Heart and Mind
Telos: You were the first woman in Europe to implant an artificial heart into a patient, and as a pioneering surgeon you helped to develop a new artificial heart. Could you tell all about this?
Dilek Gürsoy: Yes, that's right. At the time of the operation in 2012, the representatives of the artificial heart company that I implanted asked me whether I was aware that I was the first woman in Europe to operate on such a total artificial heart. Of course, I didn't know that and I didn't care. I had operated on many such procedures again and again, but never from start to finish. It is always important to me that the operation runs smoothly and cleanly. And yes, I've been actively involved in artificial heart research since 2010. First, I had the great fortune and honour of operating a German left ventricular assist system and a total artificial heart in the research laboratory on animals. This was followed by orders from other European and Scandinavian countries, which I have been able to accompany to this day and hopefully in the future as a surgeon. The goal of artificial heart research is not only to provide a temporary bridge until heart transplantation, but to offer a genuine alternative. The artificial heart should be designed in such a way that it fits into any chest (male/female) and operates flawlessly from a technical perspective for over 10 years ...more
Editorial
When Christiaan Barnard transplanted the first heart on 3 December 1967, the time wasn’t ripe yet. But he was bold. Then, one night in Italy between 13 and 14 November 1985, Prof Vincenzo Maria Gallucci performed the first heart transplant in the cardiac surgery unit of Padua. The patient’s name was Ilario Lazzari, a carpenter from Vigonovo with a grave form of dilated cardiomyopathy. He gave life and hope to a man and to many others who were suffering, people who would not have to endure the overseas “journey of hope” ever again. Not everyone knows that on 4 April 1969 the first artificial heart was transplanted into a man; however, the first permanent artificial heart arrived in late 1982 with “Jarvik-7”, named after its developer Robert Jarvik ...more
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