For the first time in human history, NHS doctors have successfully re-transplanted animated hearts into pediatric patients, using a technique that could revolutionize healthcare.
Surgeons at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire revived and successfully used congested hearts in multiple, groundbreaking transplant surgeries using a heart-in-a-box machine designed to mimic conditions in the human body .
So far, a total of six patients, aged between 12 and 16, have benefited from the surgery that involves transplanting a previously stationary heart into a child patient.
Anna Hadley, now 16, was the first patient to receive a heart transplant using cutting-edge technology.
The story of a world first in pediatric heart transplantation delivered by the NHS during a global pandemic that has saved the lives of six children since February 2020, including Anna, 16, and Freya, 14. @RTLnews and @NHSBTThread 1/10 pic.twitter.com/mqSzi9zT6C
– Royal Papworth Hospital NHS FT 💙 (@RoyalPapworth) February 21, 2021
‘I just feel normal again. There’s nothing I can’t do now, “ she said, explaining that she can now play hockey again since she got her new heart.
The heart-in-a-box machine called the Organ Care System keeps the life-giving organ warm and pumps 1.5 liters of the donor’s blood through it, while injecting it with extra nutrients and continuing to beat with a defibrillation pulse . It is remarkable that doctors can also control the heart rate remotely if necessary.
The technique results in faster recovery, drastically shorter waiting times by freeing up potential donor hearts, and can save thousands of lives in the process. Children have to wait an average of two and a half times longer than adults given the specific requirements for transplantation.
“It means that people can donate their hearts where it has not been possible in the past, by giving life to patients on the waiting list,” says Dr. John Forsythe, Medical Director for Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant.
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