Taking as a starting point the city of Tijuana, Baja California, a human heart traveled to the General Hospital "La Raza" in Mexico City, arriving this Sunday morning, May 16th, after traveling 3 thousand kilometers in a little more than 4 hours.

The vital organ was finally transplanted to a patient who was on the waiting list at the National Medical Center (CMN) "La Raza" belonging to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).

César Villaseñor Colín, Donation and Transplant Coordinator, emphasized that this is the second time in the history of Mexican medicine, and of this Hospital, that a heart has been transplanted in such a short time and at a distance of 3,000 kilometers from its destination.

The heart is capable of remaining in good condition outside the human body 6 hours after having been extracted, for which reason health authorities implemented an operation to speed up its reception in the least amount of time possible, guaranteeing its safety at the same time.

Experts from the High Specialty Medical Unit (UMAE) of the General Hospital "Dr. Gaudencio González Garza" of "La Raza", were in charge of performing the surgery and obtaining the heart, corneas and kidneys of a 25 year old young man, who had been diagnosed with brain death due to a cranioencephalic trauma, for which the professionals were transferred from the night of Saturday, May 15 to the Regional General Hospital No. 20 of the IMSS in Tijuana.

Guillermo Careaga Reyna, general director of the UMAE, thanked the altruism of the deceased young man's family, saying that because of them it was possible to give another opportunity to five patients who were on the waiting list, adding that this is the third heart they have received this year and they hope to benefit one more patient.

The corneas were destined to patients at the UMAE in "La Raza", while the kidneys were transferred to a hospital in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.

The route of transfer of the organs to Mexico City passed through the Toluca International Airport, later traveling in a helicopter of the Grupo de Rescate Aéreo Relámpagos del Estado de México and then arriving at the heliport of the UMAE Hospital de Traumatología in Magdalena de las Salinas.

Finally, the ambulance trip was made to the CMN of "La Raza", where the patient who was waiting for the heart was already ready in the operating room to perform the surgery.

This year, 2021, the Transplant Program at IMSS was reactivated, after being stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic that started in March 2020. So far this year, 3 hearts, 6 kidneys and 24 corneas have been transplanted.

If you wish to be a voluntary organ and tissue donor, you can consult the websites of the National Transplant Center or the IMSS, where it is possible to register and be accredited as a voluntary donor.

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