Transplantation of the heart: An overview of 40 years' clinical and research experience at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town: Part I. Surgical experience and clinical studies.

The heart transplant programme at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town has continued uninterruptedly since the first human transplant in 1967. Orthotopic heart transplantation was followed by the heterotopic method in 1974, considerably improving the clinical results. In 1983, owing to the advent of cyclosporin A, the orthotopic method was once again predominantly adopted. Early graft failure for various reasons remains a major complication, and heterotopic heart transplantation is perhaps the best way to deal with it.