Magdi Yacoub facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Magdi Yacoub
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Yacoub in 2008
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| Born | 16 November 1935 Bilbeis, Sharqia, Kingdom of Egypt
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| Citizenship | United Kingdom Egypt |
| Education | Cairo University |
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| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Institutions | University of Chicago Harefield Hospital of Imperial College London |
| Sub-specialties | Cardiothoracic surgery Heart transplantation |
| Awards | Order of Merit Knight Bachelor Order of the Nile |
Sir Magdi Yacoub is a famous Egyptian-British surgeon. He is known for his amazing work in heart surgery. He helped many people by repairing heart valves and performing heart transplants. He also developed special operations for children with heart problems.
He started the heart transplant center at Harefield Hospital in 1980. He performed the first combined heart and lung transplant in the UK in 1983. Sir Magdi has received many important awards for his work, including being made a Knight Bachelor and a member of the Order of Merit. After retiring from the main health service, he continued to help children through his charity, Chain of Hope. He also co-founded the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, which started the Aswan Heart Project in Egypt.
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Becoming a Heart Surgeon
Magdi Habib Yacoub was born on November 16, 1935, in Bilbeis, Egypt. His family was Coptic Christian. His father was also a surgeon.
When he was 15, he started studying medicine at Cairo University. He decided to become a heart surgeon after his youngest aunt died from a heart problem. He realized that if she had access to the right medical care, she might have lived.
Early Training and Moving to Britain
In 1957, Magdi Yacoub finished medical school at Cairo University. He then worked for two years as a resident surgeon. In the early 1960s, he moved to Britain to continue his training. He worked at Guy's Hospital and later at the National Heart and Chest Hospitals.
Helping Hearts with Valve Problems
At the National Heart and Chest Hospitals, he worked with another surgeon, Donald Ross. They focused on fixing heart valves for people with serious heart disease. Heart valves are like doors in your heart that control blood flow. If they don't work well, it can cause problems.
They developed a special operation called the Ross procedure. In this surgery, a diseased aortic valve (one of the heart's main valves) is replaced with the person's own pulmonary valve (another heart valve). This was very helpful, especially for growing children, because it meant they didn't need to take blood-thinning medicine for life. Sir Magdi later improved this operation, calling it the Ross-Yacoub procedure.
In 1968, he moved to the United States and worked at the University of Chicago.
Working at Harefield Hospital
In 1973, Sir Magdi became a top heart surgeon at Harefield Hospital in West London. He had accepted the job before going to the US, and he felt it was important to return. At Harefield, he worked closely with Rosemary Radley-Smith, a specialist in children's heart conditions.
In 1974, he was part of the team that performed the first open-heart surgery in Nigeria.
Fixing Complex Heart Defects
In 1977, he created a new way to perform the arterial switch operation (ASO). This surgery helps babies born with a serious heart condition called transposition of the great arteries. In this condition, the two main arteries leaving the heart are swapped, which means the body doesn't get enough oxygen. His two-stage approach helped older patients with this condition.
Pioneering Heart Transplants
Sir Magdi started the heart transplant program at Harefield Hospital in 1980. His first patient was Derrick Morris, who lived for many years after his transplant. In fact, he became Europe's longest-surviving heart transplant patient.
Another patient, John McCafferty, received a heart transplant from Sir Magdi in 1982. John lived for over 33 years, setting a Guinness World Record as the world's longest-surviving heart transplant patient.
In December 1983, Sir Magdi performed the UK's first combined heart and lung transplant at Harefield. From 1986 to 2006, he was a professor of heart surgery at Imperial College London. He also treated famous people like comedian Eric Morecambe and actor Omar Sharif.
Later Career and New Discoveries
Sir Magdi retired from the National Health Service (NHS) in 2001. However, he continued his important work.
In 2006, he led a complex operation where a patient's transplanted heart was removed because their own heart had recovered. The original heart had been left in place during the first transplant, hoping it would heal.
In April 2007, a research team led by Sir Magdi announced they had grown part of a human heart valve using stem cells. This was a huge step forward in medical science.
In January 2025, he revealed a new "living valve" for heart patients. This special valve is designed to become part of the body. It allows the patient's own cells to grow a fully working, natural valve. This could mean fewer future surgeries and less chance of the body rejecting the new valve.
Helping Others Through Charities
In 1995, Sir Magdi founded a charity called "Chain of Hope." Through this charity, he continued to perform heart operations on children. The charity also helps provide heart surgery in places that don't have special heart surgery centers.
He is also the head of the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Foundation. He started this foundation with Ahmed Zewail and Ambassador Mohamed Shaker in 2008. This foundation launched the Aswan Heart Project and opened the Aswan Heart Centre in Egypt.
Awards and Recognition
Sir Magdi Yacoub has received many honors for his incredible contributions to medicine:
- 1988: Bradshaw Lecture, Royal College of Physicians.
- 1992: Knighted (became "Sir").
- 1998: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
- 2004: International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Lifetime Achievement Award.
- 2006: European Society of Cardiology Gold Medal.
- 2011: Order of the Nile (a high honor in Egypt).
- 2014: Appointed to the Order of Merit (a special honor given by the British monarch).
- 2015: Lister Medal for his contributions to surgical science.
Personal Life
Sir Magdi was married to Marianne, and they had three children. Marianne's family was from East Germany, and she came to the UK. She worked as a nurse at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where she met Magdi. They were married in the USA.
Sir Magdi enjoys swimming, listening to classical music, and growing orchids.
Images for kids
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National Heart Hospital
See also
In Spanish: Magdi Yacoub para niños
