A Taiwanese heart transplant recipient surnamed Lee has broken the Asian record for surviving with a donated heart. She has lived for 30 years and counting since receiving a heart transplant in 1991.
At a press conference held to mark this milestone on Thursday, her doctor, Wei Jeng, said it’s possible that Lee, aged 53, could go on to break the world record for surviving with a transplanted heart in a few years’ time. The current world record is 33 years.
Dr. Wei says the survival rate of heart transplant recipients is about 70% within five years, falling to 50% after ten years and again to 30% after 20 years.
It’s been 34 years since Taiwan performed its first heart transplant surgery. Dr. Wei says the surgery is not the most difficult part; the biggest obstacle to a successful transplant is a lack of organ donors. Wei said there are about 100 donors every year, but five to ten times as many people on the waiting list to receive an organ.
Heart transplant recipients have a higher chance of getting cancer due to the anti-rejection medications they must take over the long term. Lee herself is also a cancer survivor, but she remains optimistic about the future. At the press conference, Lee said she wants to live each day to the fullest so as not to disappoint the expectations of her heart donor.