Netherlands: Guinness World Records has recognised Bert Janssen, as the longest-surviving heart transplant patient. The 57-year-old Dutchman survived for almost 40 years after receiving a donor heart from Harefield Hospital in Uxbridge, northwest London, in the 1980s.
Janssen was being treated for cardiomyopathy, a condition that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood. Janssen was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy when he was 17 years old after experiencing flu-like symptoms. The transplant pioneer, Professor Magdi Yacoub, of Harefield Hospital, performed the operation on 6 June 1984.
This procedure was not done in the Netherlands at that time. Janssen, who was 18 at the time of the operation, explained that everything happened very quickly. A week after arriving in Harefield, two hearts were available from a major car accident in London. One of the hearts matched and transplanted to the young Janssen.
After the operation, Janssen said, he was able to “return to a good quality of life.” The married and father of two, feels proud of himself as it is an honour to reach the record-breaking milestone.
The glider pilot still says he never thought he would make it this far. Mr Janssen said “What I think is most important is that I set a benchmark for others. It is now officially proven that it is possible to come this far while having a donor heart. I assume the marker will yet move quite a bit further and I will be pleased if others break my record in due course.”
Harefield Hospital records show that Janssen’s surgery was the 107th transplant performed there. The first was performed by Sir Magdi in 1980 and since then the center has completed thousands of transplants, with 54 taking place in 2022-23.
Consultant Cardiologist and Leader of the Heart Transplant Service at Harefield Hospital Dr. Fernando Raisgo Gil said that, “It is fantastic news to hear that one of our early Harefield transplant patients continues to live such a full and happy life so long after his transplant.”
According to the data on the NHS Blood and Transplant website, there were 7,314 adults and 248 patients under the age of 18 on active transplant waiting lists in the UK last week.
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