For the first time in human history, doctors with the NHS have successfully transplanted recreated hearts into pediatric patients, using a technique that could revolutionize healthcare.
Surgeons at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire have revived stopped hearts and used them successfully in several, groundbreaking transplant operations using a heart-in-a-box machine designed to replicate the conditions in the human body.
So far, a total of six patients, between the ages of 12 and 16, have benefited from the surgery that transplants a previously stopped heart into a pediatric patient.
Anna Hadley, now 16, was the first patient to receive a transplanted heart using the bleeding technique.
The story of a world first in child heart transplantation, delivered by the NHS during a global pandemic that has saved the lives of six children since Feb 2020, including Anna (16) and Freya, 14. A collaboration between us, @GreatOrmondSt and @NHSBT. Back 1/10 pic.twitter.com/mqSzi9zT6C
– Royal Papworth Hospital NHS FT @ (@RoyalPapworth) 21 February 2021
“I just feel normal again. There is nothing I can do now, “he said. she said, explaining that she can now play hockey again since she received 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 blood from the donor through it, while administering additional nutrients and beating it using a defibrillation pulse. Remarkably, doctors can also regulate the heart rate remotely if necessary.
The technique has resulted in faster recovery, dramatically reduced waiting time by releasing potential donor hearts and can save thousands of lives in the process. Children have to wait on average two and a half times longer than adults, given the specific requirements for transplantation.
“It means people can donate their hearts where it would not have been possible in the past, and so could put 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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