Correct answer: (c) Christian Bernard
Explanation
- A
Dr. Venugopal
Dr. Venugopal claims the milestone of performing India's first successful heart transplant in 1994 at AIIMS, New Delhi, not the world's first.
- B
William Harvey
William Harvey claims the discovery of blood circulation and the role of the heart in pumping it through the body, which laid the physiological groundwork for cardiology but was not a transplant.
- C
Christian Bernard
Christian Bernard claims the performance of the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant, which he successfully executed on December 3, 1967, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, making this extensive and historically monumental procedure the correct and universally recognized key.
- D
William Betrick
William Betrick is a distractor figure with no documented historical precedence or medical breakthrough associated with the historic first human heart transplant.
Summary. Official key is (c) Christian Bernard. The question asks for the pioneer who performed the world's first successful human heart transplant. Dr. Venugopal is often incorrectly chosen by Indian aspirants confusing it with the first Indian heart transplant. William Harvey is known for discovering blood circulation rather than conducting organ transplants. Christian Bernard achieved this monumental surgical feat in South Africa in 1967, thereby standing out as the correct option.