Specialists from the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) and a specialised hospital have performed the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant. It was performed on a 16-year-old patient with terminal heart failure. This is reported by the
Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

It is noted that the operation lasted 2.5 hours. A team of doctors had been preparing for the transplant for several weeks. 

The team first developed a plan to minimise risks and then surgical tactics to access the patient’s heart without opening the chest. Before the operation, the specialists practised the procedure seven times over three days on medical simulators.

SPA emphasises that this achievement by Saudi doctors strengthens the country’s leadership in the field of healthcare and demonstrates KFSHRC’s ability to implement innovative methods in medicine. This heart transplantation reduces the risks of complications and avoids traditional surgeries that require long recovery times.

Dr. Majid Al Fayyad CEO of KFSHRC also described the procedure as a true advancement in heart transplantation since the first transplant in the 1960s.

“The success of the world’s first robotic heart transplant marks a transformative leap, not only for our institution but also for Saudi Arabia’s journey toward global leadership in specialised medicine, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which places innovation at the core of its efforts to improve quality of life,” he pointed out.

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