UCSD Team Transplants Its First Heart : Medicine: Corona construction worker is in critical but stable condition after three-hour surgery.

A 25-year-old construction worker from Riverside County became UC San Diego Medical Center’s first heart transplant recipient after a three-hour operation, hospital officials announced Monday.

Gary Troxel of Corona was reported in critical but stable condition Monday afternoon, a standard post-surgery condition in such cases, said Nancy Stringer, hospital spokeswoman.

The surgery was performed about 4:30 p.m. Sunday by a team of four surgeons and two nurses, headed by Dr. Stuart Jamieson. It was not only the hospital’s first heart transplant, but also the medical center’s first transplant as part of its heart-lung program, begun in June.

Jamieson, 42, is a transplant team member recruited by the medical center from the University of Minnesota.

Troxel, a single man, suffered from idiopathic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes dilation and impaired functioning of the heart, and its eventual failure. The cause is unknown.

The condition was diagnosed in November, 1988, and Troxel was placed on a waiting list for a transplant. The donor, whose identity was not disclosed, was described as a 40-year-old male from the San Diego area who died of a stroke.

“I am very pleased that our first procedure at UC San Diego Medical Center is going so well. My colleagues and I are anxious to move ahead with our transplant efforts,” Jamieson said in a statement released by the hospital.

Michael R. Stringer, director of the medical center, released this statement: “This is an exciting day for all of us. We have been working closely with Dr. Jamieson and his team to develop the support system that is such an essential component of a successful program. With the first transplant now completed, we are looking forward to the continuing development of our multiple-transplant program.”

The heart-lung transplant program has yet to do a lung transplant.

UC San Diego Medical Center also has kidney, bone marrow and cornea transplant programs, and plans to add one for the pancreas.

Stringer, the hospital spokeswoman, said Troxel’s family has established a fund to help pay for the operation. A typical bill for such a procedure--including organ procurement, admission to the transplant program, surgery and post-operative care--amounts to about $100,000 to $150,000, depending on patient circumstances, according to medical center officials.

Donations to the Gary Troxel fund can be made in care of the medical center, 225 Dickinson St. (H-938), San Diego, 92103.