WVU Medicine has performed West Virginia’s first heart transplant.
The surgery, performed Saturday, was done on a 61-year-old male patient from Chesapeake, Ohio. Surgeons at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute and the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance in Morgantown conducted the procedure.
In a news release, associate vice president of transplant services for WVU Medicine and the leader of the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance Michael Shullo said the procedure “marks a new chapter for transplantation in West Virginia.”
WVU Health System president and CEO Albert Wright said the transplant marks a pivotal moment for the Institute as it works to establish itself as a premier heart and vascular program in the nation.
In September 2018, leaders from WVU Medicine announced they would develop the state’s first heart transplant program so that West Virginia residents and those in neighboring states wouldn’t have to travel long distances to receive a heart transplant.
Officials from the program say they have several more heart transplant patients on a waiting list.
