A heart myxoma patient in Heilongjiang underwent a successful heart transplant at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, on March 31.

The woman, identified as Jin Ying, 35, was diagnosed with heart myxoma –– a myxoid tumor of primitive connective tissue in the heart –– in 2003.

The procedure was carried out by a team led by Xie Baodong, deputy director of the cardiac surgery department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University.

During the 8-hour operation, Xie and his assistants successfully connected a new heart donated by a 29-year-old organ donor to Jin’s body.

The operation marks the first successful heart transplant in China, on a patient that had had three open thoracotomies over a 15-year period.

Jin was able to stop using the intubation ventilator and begin eating solid food at 2 pm on April 1, only 10 hours after the operation.

“The patient will have a bright future if she passes through the heart rejection period,” said Xie.

Xie Baodong, deputy director of cardiac surgery at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, together with his assistants, operate on Jin Ying, a patient suffering from heart myxoma on March 31.[Photo/people.cn]

Jin Ying and a nurse make the thumbs up gesture at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University after Jin recovered consciousness following a heart transplant on April 1. [Photo/people.cn]

Xie Baodong, deputy director of the cardiac surgery department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, checks on Jin Ying following her heart transplant surgery on April 1.[Photo/people.cn]