Laser RISC

First Heart Transplant

In 1968, Stanford surgeon Norman Shumway performed the first human heart transplant in the United States followed, in 1981, by the first heart/lung transplant.

Related Information:

A heart transplantation narrative: The earliest years

Shumway delivers heart-to-heart on transplantation
(Stanford Report, 5/15/02)

Norman Shumway speaks at Medical School's Commencement
(Stanford Report, 6/14/00)


Surgeons stand at the ready during the first combined heart/lung transplant, which was performed at Stanford's Medical Center in 1981. The operation represented the culmination of more than two years of experiments. Photo: Chuck Painter