A Soviet view

of transplants

The following is an interview —

With the Director of Biology,
Demikhov, by a Soviet magazine.
It includes the views of Demi-
khov on transplants and a con-

‘Versation he had with Dr. Ber-

Nard by phone from Moscow to
New York.

Q. “Professor Bernard, like
you, I am profoundly grieved by
the death of your patient. Un-

fortunately, the first steps in.

Science are always difficult,
Sometimes tragic. But they give
us invaluable experience, they
teach us. Tell me, please, what
Were the results of the post
Mortem performed by Professor
Thompson?” ;

A. “TI left Cape Town on the
day following the post mortem.
Therefore I do not yet know
all the details of the histologial

Picture. I shall acquaint myself .

With them next week, when I
Teturn home.”

Q. “During our .meetings in
Moscow in 1960 we discussed
the problem of the possible reac-

' tion of the heart to immuno-de-

pressive remedies as well as to
different’ toxins. How did the
Pneumonia affect the patient’s
heart?” z EP

A. “I can tell you that no signs
of. infection were found either in
the heart itself, or in the region
of the sutures. The dimensions
‘Of ‘the heart were perfectly nor-
Mal. No signs of thrombosis
Were found in the heart . . . Both

the patient’s lungs were affected

by the pneumonia, but a micro-
SCopic examination’ showed no
changes pointing to incompatib-

lity.”

Q. “Could the pneumonia have
been the result of the use of im-
Muno-depressive remedies?

A. “It is quite possible that
the use of these remedies pro-
Moted the development of the
Pneumonia. They made the pa-
tient’s organism more _ suscept-
ible to disease. Besides, as you
know, Washkansky’s organism
Was weakened by diabetes.”

Q. “Could you send me the
results of the histological exam-
Jnation?”.

A. “T shall certainly do so.”

ma

Aswan dam workers and inhabitants cheer Soviet governmer!

“Thank you, Professor Ber-
nard. I am sure that the follow-
ing operations will be more
successful, although there is
no doubt that big difficulties
may be met with during the
first stage. I wish you success.”

e@
Professor Christian Bernard
and Doctor of Biology Vladimir
Petrovich Demikhov are old

‘friends. The work of the Soviet

researcher in the problem of
transplantation of organs is

world famous. Scientists from’

many countries have visited his
laboratory, among them Profes-
sor Bernard who = assisted
Demikhov during several opera-
tions.: They correspond with
each other. Thirty years ago the
Soviet medical student Vladimir
Demikhov was the first to re-
place the heart of a dog by an
artificial device — a mechanical
pump. Heart transplant opera-
tions from one organism to an-
other followed. .

In f950 V. Demikhov was

’ granted a patent licence for “A

Method of Transplanting the
Heart in Warm-Blooded Ani-
mals” which established the
Soviet « scientist’s priority. The
first dog with an artificial heart
lived only two and a half hours.
Subsequently, dogs with graft-
ed hearts and also with several
hearts lived for many months.
After the Moscow-New York
phone talk, V. P:'‘Demikhov re-
plied to questions asked by a
reporter. :

“Many scientists consider the -

albumin incompatibility barrier
to be an almost insurmountable
obstacle in the successful trans-
plants of human organs. What
is your view on this.

“My opinion on this problem
differs from the views of many
scientists. Naturally a_ tissue
barrier exists, but not at all in

the form in which they conceive.

it. It is a much more complic-
ated problem than simply an in-
surmountable obstable. This is
not the time or place to solve

_or pose specific problems. I will

only remind you how unsuccess-
ful the first experiments in
blood transfusion were. In the

delegation at the celebration of the 8th anniversary of the start of

construction on the dam.

i ei

majority of cases the patients
perished, As long as the condi-
tions of compatibility of the
blood were not known and sci-
entists worked in the dark,

‘these experiments were doomed
‘to fail beforehand. Nowadays
- doctors make blood transfusions

only with due regard for the
compatibility of the blood
groups and a whole number of
other factors. Apparently, when
making transplants of different
organs a specific selection of the
donor and the host also has to
be made.

“After all, ten years ago cer-
tain scientists declared that for
immunological reasons a kidney
taken from another person
could not take root in a human
organism. Yet, hundreds of peo-
ple with transplanted “alien”
kidneys are alive in the world
today.

“No one can deny that the
different tissues and organs
have their own specific features.

‘Therefore, fear of the immuno-

logical barrier should not keep
us from a concrete analysis of
the phenomena arising during
the replacement of various
organs.

“With regard to the dogs into
whom a heart was transplanted,
not a single one of them died

owing to the so-called barrier of -

incompatibility. :

“All the causes of their death
can be explained by certain
complications which may arise
after intricate surgical opera-
tions both in man and in ani-
mals. In ‘such cases it is parti-
cularly important to prevent the
development of thromboses
which, incidentally, it is more
difficult to find and prevent in
animals than in man.

“However long we continue
to make heart transplant into
animals, the road to the solution
of the problems: lies only
through opérations on man. We
should not close, our eyes to

‘this. The analysis. of a huge

number of experiments on ani-
mals gives us all grounds to
hope of the successful outcome
of such operations. ;

“IT have dedicated my life to
the study of the problem of
transplantation of organs. I
think that this is one of the
chief directions in which ways

. of saving human lives should be

sought. I believe that we shall
finally obtain the possibility of

- replacing internal and external

organs of man, affected by
disease, by healthy ones. Each

" new operation is a step ‘forw-
ard, even if only a tiny one it is .

still progress.

“Such an operation requires.

most intricate and through pre-
parations and the joint work of
a large number of highly skilled
specialists. I would even say
that in this lies its basic dif-
ficulty, as the surgical methods
have: been perfected to a con-
siderable extent both in our
country and abroad, Christian
Barnard had about 30 people
working with him, that is, only
those who directly participated
in the operation.

“Let us hope that Professor
Barnard’s experiment will pave
the way for the performance of
such operations on a much
wider scale.”

Four year old watch-dog Mukhtar with transplanted head

and forelegs of a four month old pup joined to its neck in a unique
operation performed at the Reanjmation Laboratory of the Bogo-
molets Institute of Physiology in Ukr. SSR by well-known Soviet Pa-
thophysiclogist V. P. Demikhov, Dr. of Biology Science, together -
with staff workers of the institute N. P. Adamenko, V. P. Doroschuk,

Yu. F. Gerei and F. F. Zelinsky. An anological operation was first

made by Demikhov in 1953. Aim of the new experiment is to work
out the maximum possibilities of reanimating the brain after a pro-
longed clinical death as well as.to. be able in the future to transplant
extremities to replace the injured ones in humans.

.

William Devine

HAVANA

UBANS have high hopes that
a gusher brought in near

Havana Jan. 8 will lead to ~

a solution of the island’s oil
problems. ee

Drilling operations struck oil
at Guanabo Beach near Havana
and in the first nine hours 206
tons had flowed to the surface.
Sources said the well was con-

* tinuing to produce at a satisfac-

tory rate. The well began to gush
at a depth of 875 metres, where-
as a depth of 2,000 metres had
been projected for the sinking.
‘It was clear, however, that
Cuban authorities were not rush-
ing to overestimate or under-
estimate. It was stated that tech-
nicians of the Ministry of Min-
ing, Fuel and Metallurgy imme-
diately began studies of the well
to determine its characteristics,
grade of productivity and value.
A short official announcement
from the Ministry said the re-
gions in the province of Havana
bétween Guanabo Beach and
Santa Maria Beach. have top
priority in the search for oil.
Buoying up Cubans was the
fact that the find came only six
days after Prime Minister Fidel
Castro annouced gasoline ra-
tioning for the country’s car
drivers. 3
In his January 2nd speech
commemorating the ninth anni-
versary of the Cuban Revolution,
Castro said Cuba’s economic ad-
vances, particularly its strides
forward in the mechanization
of agriculture, had created a

tremendous increase in oil needs,
and had led to a shortage.

During the last two years, the
country had been forced to bite
into shipments earmarked for
the future. At one point, Castro
declared, the reserves of the
armed forces had even been dip-
ped into, thus running the risk
of being practically without fuel
reserves in the event of aggres- -
sion against Cuba.

The Soviet Union, said Cas-
tro, “has gone to considerable
lengths to provide fuel.” In 1967,
it sent 162 tankers, or one every
52 hours. But the Soviet Union’s
possibilities in providing fuel
for Cuba’s rising needs “are
limited.”

Thus, “we can’t continue to
have this tension, to have empty
tanks waiting for a ship day
after day, week after week,
knowing that a delay in the.ar-
rival of a ship will cause prob-
lems.”

Further, “we can’t live with
that incessant request for ad-
vances because that is not good
for our economy,” nor is it “be-
coming to the dignity and honor
of this country either.”

Castro forecast that 1968 ‘‘will
be a year in which we have to
make the greatest constructive
effort and it will also be con-
sidered as one of the rough
years of the Revolution.” But,
“without any doubt whatsoever,
it will be a year which will al-
Iow us to face the future with
greater optimism.”

FEBRUARY 16, 1968—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5 _