SHANGHAI -?The first HIV-positive patient to undergo heart surgery was discharged Thursday from the Shanghai hospital where he had been treated.

"It was China's first successful heart surgery on an HIV-positive patient," said Lu Hongzhou, director of the Shanghai Center for AIDS Diagnosis and Treatment.

The male patient, 58, had cardiac aortic valve calcification problem, which could only be corrected through surgery.

Sun Xiaoning, a surgeon with Zhongshan Hospital under Fudan University, said after the surgery on Jan. 6, the patient was transferred so that HIV-related complications could be treated.

"There is an occupational risk when operating on HIV-positive patients. Our team was not afraid, it was our obligation," said Sun.

Zhu Tongyu, director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center, said people living with HIV/AIDS are often rejected by hospitals for surgery. The center's AIDS Diagnosis and Treatment Center has dedicated itself to addressing this difficulty for the past seven years.

It was with the help of the center that the patient was admitted by the hospital.

The center has helped AIDS patients get surgery ranging from orthopaedics, neurosurgery, oncology to ophthalmology.