Zbigniew Religa: An unfinished story

The International Journal of Artificial Organs / Vol. 32 / no. 6, 2009 / pp. 315-317
Obituary
Zbigniew Religa: An unfinished story
Zbigniew Nawrat
Medical University of Silesia, Katowice - Poland
Foundation for Cardiac Surgery Development, Zabrze - Poland
Professor Zbigniew Religa (Fig. 1), the father of
modern Polish cardiac surgery and the developer of
the Polish artificial heart, passed away in his home in
Warsaw on March 8, 2009 at the age of 71. His family,
friends, and colleagues as well as the Polish authorities
– including the President and the Prime Minister – all
saluted him with a tribute that was more than deserved
by such a great man, doctor and social activist.
Fig. 1 - Professor Zbigniew Religa.
He was born on December 16, 1938 in Miedniewice,
near Zyrardów. He grew up in Warsaw, where he completed his studies in 1964. In the 1970’s he was in the
United States twice for internships in blood vessel surgery and cardiac surgery. After coming back to Poland,
he worked at the Institute of Cardiac Surgery in Warsaw. In 1984, he became the Head of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic and Chair of the Medical Academy in Zabrze, where in 1985 he performed the first successful
heart transplant in Poland. With that event he became
the most influential personality in Polish medicine and
remained so for over 30 years.
Adrian Kantrowitz, the founder of the American
school of transplantology (and inventer of the intraaortic balloon pump), who performed the first human
heart transplant in the United States only days after
Christiaan Bernard in South Africa, was also the teacher of Professor Religa (personal communication). In the
1970’s, Zbigniew Religa was the chief resident doctor
who took care of patients with mechanical heart support (the so-called “Kantrowitz patch”).
Religa had become an epitome that many other
young doctors arriving later to the USA to study and
practice found hard to match. Despite tempting job
opportunities, Zbigniew Religa came back to Poland
to create the foundations of modern Polish cardiology,
from heart transplant to the artificial heart. He demonstrated that a modern physician, working arm-in-arm
with engineers and biologists, may even save patients
in the worst possible conditions.
He will be remembered as the founder of Polish
transplantology and the inventer of the Polish artificial
human heart. He was an innovator: he was the first
doctor who transplanted a pig heart into a dying patient and he prevented the effects of rejection reac© Wichtig Editore, 2009
0391-3988/315-03$25.00/0
Zbigniew Religa: An unfinished story
Fig. 2 - Professor Religa and his team.
Fig. 3 - Professor Religa and his team.
tions in xenogenic transplants by using a preparation
derived from thymus, he fostered the development of
surgical robotics in Poland.
He was also a paternal figure for many young doctors fascinated by modern surgery. As the Chair of the
Silesian Medical Academy departments, he founded
the Artificial Heart Laboratory. When this seemed insufficient, he established the Foundation for Cardiac
Surgery Development, where he created the only noncommercial and non-governmental Polish research institute, where researchers could work on biomedical
material and device development (e.g., heart prostheses, heart valves, surgical robots and bio-technology).
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With his continuous efforts to save difficult patients,
he won the trust of his co-workers and public opinion.
He started a heart transplant program in Poland, and
developed an original Polish system for mechanical
assistance to the human heart (POLCAS). He became
a Member of Parliament, a Senator, the Minister of
Health and dedicated himelf to transforming the Polish
health care system into a modern, efficient one that is
available to all.
Up to his last days, he remained interested in the
work we were doing and gave us advice. In January of
this year, I even discussed with him over the phone the
details of our experiments on animals to test the Robin
Nawrat
TABLE I - ZBIGNIEW RELIGA’S ACHIEVEMENTS
Prof. Religa and his team (Figs. 2 and 3) have achieved great milestones in Polish cardiac surgery and heart transplant. The most important ones
include:
• Beginning of the heart transplant program, leading to the first successful heart transplant in Poland in 1985
• Beginning of the surgical treatment of early heart coronary condition, 1986
• First heart and lung transplantation in Poland, 1986
• First use of heart-assistance pumps and artificial heart (in cooperation with Vascu and Shumacov) in Poland, 1986
• Establishment of the first Polish heart valves bank using the deep freezing method, 1988
• First xenotransplantation (pig heart), 1989
• First operation on a chronic pulmonary embolism, 1990
• Starting in 1991 - founder and member of the Polish Transplantology Society
• In 1993 - founder of the Foundation for Cardiac Surgery Development
• First implantation of Polish Ventricular Assist Device (POLVAD) in 1993
• Starting in 1992 - member of the Scientific Board of the Polish Ministry of Health
• In 1993 - founder of the Institute of Heart Prosthesis at the Foundation for Cardiac Surgery Development
• 1993-1997 and 2001-2005 - Senator of the 3rd and 5th term in the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
•2
005 - candidate running for President of the Republic of Poland
•2
005-2007- Minister of Health
•2
007-2009 - Deputy of the 6th term of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Poland.
Heart Robot while we were working on it.
The last time I saw Professor Religa was during the
award ceremony of the Polish White Eagle Medal in the
Presidential Palace. He did not want media coverage
of the event, as if he had guessed that this was his
farewell to friends and colleagues.
With the passing away of Professor Religa, we lose
another pioneer in the field of artificial organs. With
their lives and activity, these pioneers have set an
example and shown the way for continuing progress
in science. It is our task to make sure that their legacy
is not lost.
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