RIYADH — A specialized surgical team from the Heart Center at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh successfully removed the heart of a donor in the UAE and transplanted it to a patient at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh in a record time.

The surgical feat was made in cooperation with Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT), The National Program for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue, Hayat in the UAE, and the Medical Evacuation Air Management.

A medical team led by Dr. Faisal Al-Omari, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, performed the heart removal operation in the UAE from a 38-year-old donor at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in the morning.

The donor's heart arrived by air medical evacuation to King Faisal Specialist Hospital at 11:30 a.m. and was immediately transferred to the operating room, where the medical team proceeded with the transplantation process for a 54-year-old patient. The operation took 5 hours and was announced successful at 4:30 p.m. — SPA