Georgiadis’s post, which celebrated the successful transplant of a 52-year-old woman using organs from a 49-year-old donor, was met with swift rebuttals from the medical community. The Minister lauded the operation as a milestone for the Greek healthcare system, something he claimed “would have been considered unattainable five years ago.”
Misleading claims
Despite the celebratory tone, doctors and experts quickly pointed out that the Minister’s claim was factually incorrect. Greece’s first heart-lung transplant was actually performed in 1992 by the late heart surgeon Panagiotis Spyrou at the Papanikolaou Hospital in Thessaloniki. This pioneering procedure marked a significant achievement in the country’s medical history, long before the operation Georgiadis referred to.
Professor Alkis Kostakis and pathologist Eleftheria Krikeli both underscored this point in their analyses, citing the 1992 transplant as the true first in Greece. Their posts, which were shared widely on social media, included links to articles and publications from that time, effectively debunking the Minister’s claim.
Panagiotis Papanikolaou, General Secretary of the Federation of Hospital Doctors of Greece (OENGE), criticised the Health Minister for his misleading statement, calling it “doubly unacceptable” that Georgiadis would be so uninformed and that media outlets would uncritically repeat the claim. Papanikolaou also shared an article from 1992 documenting the original transplant, adding further weight to his criticism.
Remembering a pioneer
The late Professor Panagiotis Spyrou, who led Greece’s first heart-lung transplant, is remembered as one of the country’s most influential heart surgeons. Born in 1936 in a village near Florina, Spyrou studied medicine in Thessaloniki before furthering his education in the United States. Upon his return to Greece in 1983, he established the Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic at Papanikolaou Hospital, which became the country’s first heart surgery centre outside of Athens.
Spyrou’s clinic quickly gained a reputation for pioneering surgeries, including Greece’s first open-heart surgery, the first heart transplant in Thessaloniki, and the first implantation of a mechanical heart. His contributions to Greek medicine were groundbreaking, and his work significantly reduced the need for Greek patients to seek treatment abroad.
Kalliopi Athanasiadi, a cardiac surgeon at Evangelismos Hospital, also took to social media to correct the record, praising Spyrou’s legacy and criticising the Health Minister for attempting to rewrite history. “We must set the record straight,” she wrote. “Professor Spyrou was the first to perform a heart-lung transplant in Greece back in 1992. His contributions to medicine in Greece are legendary, and his work should be recognised and respected.”
A broader issue
The incident has sparked broader concerns about the current state of Greece’s National Health System (ESY) and the government’s attempts to divert attention from its ongoing challenges. Critics argue that by falsely claiming a historic first, Georgiadis was trying to paint an overly optimistic picture of the country’s healthcare system, which has been struggling with underfunding and staffing shortages.
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