Kazakhstan Marks Success with First Heart Transplant Patient

A 34-year-old patient who received Kazakhstan’s first-ever heart transplant at the Almaty City Cardiology Center in November has been discharged in stable condition.

The patient, suffering from end-stage chronic heart failure, had been on the national heart transplant waiting list, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

The groundbreaking surgery, lasting over five hours, was performed by a multidisciplinary team from Almaty in collaboration with specialists from the University Medical Center (UMC) in Astana, led by Yermagambet Kuatbayev and Professor Yuri Pya.

The donor was a 50-year-old woman who suffered a stroke linked to severe arterial hypertension. After brain death was confirmed and family consent obtained, the organ donation process was successfully organized.

Following discharge, the patient will remain under regular medical supervision, with all procedures covered free of charge by the state. Expressing gratitude to the medical team, he also shared a personal warning about the dangers of excessive energy drink consumption, which contributed to his heart condition.

“I want to warn people: don’t drink energy drinks. It started with one a day, then 8-10 daily. I didn’t think anything of it until I got seriously ill. I’m alive thanks to the doctors. Take care of your health,” he said.