A young mother has been given a second chance at life following the first heart transplant in a woman since the state hospital's transplant programme was set up 13 years ago.

Cardiac transplants in women are rare, with more heart failure patients of transplantable age being men and this marked the first of the 35 performed by consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Alex Manchè.

"Heart disease affects four men to every woman but the situation is changing and females are catching up fast," Mr Manchè explained.

Mr Manchè explained that the female patient contracted a rare condition of heart failure associated with pregnancy. Her child is now three years old and the mother had been critically ill since she gave birth. But because the blood pressure in her lung circulation was initially prohibitively high, she only became a transplant candidate recently.

An ICD was implanted over two years ago by cardiac electrophysiology specialist Oscar Aquilina and the chairman of Mater Dei Hospital's cardiac unit Albert Fenech.

The device corrected the patient's high pressure and fine-tuned its rhythm, prolonging her life until a donor heart was available. It even delivered a shock, restarting the heart when it once stopped, Mr Manchè noted.

"It is often the case that a donor organ is not available at the time it is desperately needed but these devices can be implanted to prolong the workings of a weak heart until a suitable one is offered.

The cardiac transplant programme in Malta was founded by Mr Manchè following his experience in starting a programme at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London in 1985. "We successfully transplanted 22 patients in the first year and this gave me the impetus to start a programme here," he said.

Mater Dei's cardiac unit averages one transplant a year and it is always a major event, involving much work and worry... but also success. Ten of its 13 transplantees are alive and well and its achievements compare favourably with international figures of a seven-year survival of 65 per cent.

"They are living a full life and our first transplantee has enjoyed his new heart for over 13 years and is still going strong," Mr Manchè proudly reports.

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