Ukrainian surgeons race against time to transplant a heart in Kyiv
A heart retrieved 500 km away in Dnipro oblast is being rushed to Kyiv, where surgeons have only four to six hours to complete the transplant.
Medical teams in Kyiv are transporting a donor heart that was recovered several hours earlier in the Dnipro region, a distance of about 500 kilometers. The organ must be implanted within a narrow four-to-six-hour window to remain viable. An ambulance is speeding toward the capital, with each passing minute reducing the recipient's chances of survival. The operation underscores the logistical hurdles faced by Ukrainian healthcare providers amid ongoing conflict.
Why it matters
It shows how war complicates critical medical procedures, affecting patient survival.
In this story
heart transplantorgan transportsurgeonsambulancewarzone healthcare
