Doctors in St. Petersburg are preparing to perform a heart transplant operation on a patient with HIV infection. This is the first case in Russia when surgeons will change the heart of a person suffering from such a disease. This is reported by the publication "Petersburg2" with reference to the information of the city health committee.
In Almazov Center specialists have already held a medical commission on selection for heart transplantation. The patient with HIV infection, who has been undergoing treatment at the St. Petersburg AIDS Center since 2011, has been approved for the operation.
The report notes that HIV infection in a man who is to undergo heart transplantation is considered by specialists of the Almazov Center solely as a concomitant chronic disease. The need to replace the main human organ arose due to another disease.