World’s longest surviving heart transplant patient – 57-year-old Bert Jansen |

bert jansen from Netherlands longest surviving in the world heart transplant patient survived 39 years 252 days. The 57-year-old underwent heart transplant surgery in 1984 at the age of 17.
In 2021, Janssen broke the record held by Canada’s Harold Sokilka of 34 years and 359 days.
Jansen had cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a disease characterized by abnormalities in the heart muscle that impair its ability to pump blood effectively. The disease can cause symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, leg swelling, and irregular heartbeat. Cardiomyopathy can be caused by a variety of factors, including genetics, infections, toxins, and certain medical conditions. There are many different types of cardiomyopathy, including dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and restrictive cardiomyopathy, each with different characteristics and treatment approaches. Management usually includes medications to control symptoms, lifestyle modifications, and in severe cases, treatments such as implantable devices or heart transplants to improve heart function and quality of life. Action may be required.
“A person I didn’t know at all told me that I was seriously ill and had about six months to live,” Jansen told Guinness World Records. Heart transplants were not being performed in the Netherlands at the time, and doctors told Janssen there was nothing they could do for him.

He underwent a heart transplant at Harefield Hospital in the UK by Professor Sir Magdy Jacob, becoming the hospital’s 107th patient.
He celebrated the 30th anniversary of his heart transplant with his wife in 2014.
Dr. Janssen said there were two rejections during the first few months of surgery, but no complications after that. “For the first few years after the transplant, I didn’t notice the effects of the drugs. The side effects kept coming and I started to feel like I was at the mercy of the drugs I needed just to survive,” he said. revealed.
He leads an active life. He worked in a furniture store for over 30 years, then as a yacht carpenter, and then as a school janitor. Even after he retired in 2017, he continues to work on air gliders regularly.