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Christiaan Barnard Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about Christiaan Barnard? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant in 1967.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

On December 3, 1967, Barnard led the team at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, to transplant a heart from a deceased donor into Louis Washkansky.

2.

Barnard's first heart transplant patient, Louis Washkansky, lived for over a year after the surgery.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

Washkansky survived only 18 days, dying from pneumonia caused by immunosuppressive drugs. Barnard's second patient, Philip Blaiberg, lived 19 months.

3.

Christiaan Barnard was the first doctor to successfully transplant a human lung.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

The first successful human lung transplant was performed by Dr. James Hardy in 1963, four years before Barnard's heart transplant. Barnard never performed a lung transplant.

4.

Barnard performed the first heart transplant using a heart from a pig, not a human.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

This is false. Barnard's first transplant used a human heart from a car accident victim. Xenotransplants were attempted later by others, not by Barnard.

5.

Barnard retired from surgery after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in his hands.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

In the 1980s, Barnard developed severe rheumatoid arthritis in his hands, which forced him to stop performing surgeries. He then focused on writing and humanitarian work.

6.

Barnard was the first surgeon to transplant a human heart into a chimpanzee.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967. He never transplanted a human heart into a chimpanzee.

7.

Barnard's first heart transplant operation was initially planned as a kidney transplant.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

The surgical team was originally scheduled to transplant a kidney, but when a suitable heart donor became available, they switched gears—a last-minute change that made history.

8.

Christiaan Barnard performed the first human heart transplant in 1967.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Christiaan Barnard, a South African cardiac surgeon, led the team that performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant on December 3, 1967, at Groote Schuur Hospital.

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