Hearty Effort for 20 Years

New Zealand's Heart and Lung Transplant Service celebrated 20 years of heart tranplants and reached a milestone of 200 transplants this month.

"In October we performed our 200th heart transplant - so that's 200 people who have had their lives extended thanks to the generosity of others," says Peter Ruygrok, Auckland City Hospital's clinical director of cardiology and transplant cardiologist.

The average number of heart transplants is 10 a year. The unit has the ability and need to perform more, but is limited by the number of heart donors.

"For those who wish to become heart donors, talk to your family. Often people have registered to donate, but the family does not know, and decides against it," he says.

Patients come from all over New Zealand to assess their suitability for heart transplants.

East & Bays Courier 12/12/2007