Doctors at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have carried out the first robotic heart transplant in history.

A 16-year-old patient with end-stage heart failure received the treatment which took almost two and a half hours.

According to reports, the patient was picked in part because he made a particular request not to have his chest opened by the cardiac specialists.

Before performing the procedure on the patient, the team practised it nearly seven times over three days.

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Such innovation is thought to have the potential to move heart transplant surgery away from conventional chest-opening techniques, which entail protracted recovery periods ranging from weeks to months.

To ensure accuracy and minimize risks, the process starts with careful theoretical planning.

The successful procedure has been heralded as a major advancement in heart transplant surgery, replacing the customary chest-opening procedures that need protracted recovery times.

At the time, the Executive Director of KFSHRC’s Organ Transplant Centre, Dr. Dieter Broering, told Al Arabiya English that the specialty hospital has dedicated the last 40 years to making the Kingdom a leader in organ transplantation worldwide.

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