Fudan Pediatrics has completed the first pediatric heart transplant surgery, and a four year old girl has regained her "heart" to give birth to a child | Heart | First case
Thank you to Fudan Pediatric Hospital for giving the baby another life. After undergoing a heart transplant surgery, four year old Lele safely overcame various difficulties, recovered well, and was assessed to meet discharge standards. She was successfully discharged today. The mother of the child said that Lele's appetite has significantly increased and she is now sleeping peacefully. This is also the first heart transplant surgery at the Affiliated Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University.
Four years ago, at the age of 8 months after birth, Lele was found to have an enlarged heart during a local hospital examination due to poor appetite and feeding difficulties. Doctors suggested going to Fudan Pediatrics for further diagnosis and treatment. After a comprehensive examination, Lele was diagnosed with "dilated cardiomyopathy". Experts explained that this is a congenital myocardial disease, and as age increases, heart function will deteriorate. Drug treatment can only alleviate some symptoms, and ultimately requires heart transplantation treatment.
Although Lele's condition has experienced multiple relapses in the past three years, through medication treatment, the overall control of heart function is good. In April of this year, the child's condition worsened again, with symptoms such as shortness of breath, easy sweating, poor appetite, and inability to sleep flat. After completing a series of evaluation tests, the cardiovascular center expert team determined that Lele's heart function was in the final stage and needed to undergo heart transplant surgery as soon as possible. However, the child is too young, and suitable heart donors are extremely limited nationwide, so they can only wait patiently.
Just as everyone was feeling disheartened, the dawn of life appeared on July 3rd. The online distribution system of Chinese human organs shows that there are donors who match various conditions such as age and blood type. After a comprehensive and cautious evaluation by the heart transplant team, it has been confirmed that this donor is suitable for Lele.
With the press of the donor confirmation button, a life relay also unfolded: on the early morning of July 4th, Fudan Pediatrics dispatched an organ acquisition team to successfully obtain a heart donor from another province. They rushed to the local high-speed railway station, taking the earliest high-speed train back to Shanghai, to shorten the time of heart ischemia as much as possible. At the same time, in the operating room of the pediatric hospital, the transplantation team has also made various preparations to ensure that the donor can be implanted after arriving at the hospital.
The heart transplant surgery received strong support from Professor Wang Chunsheng's team at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. In the early morning, sunlight shone into the hospital and the donor was safely delivered to the operating room of the hospital. Accompanied by the smooth and flowing surgical procedures, Lele's hope of reigniting the spark of life is gradually approaching. After a clear "aortic opening" command was given, Lele's brand new heart began to beat vigorously. The surgery was successfully completed in just 3.5 hours. After surgery, Lele was transferred to the cardiac care unit.
In addition, Fudan Pediatrics has established a multidisciplinary expert group to carefully analyze and evaluate changes in each clinical manifestation and examination indicators, and through seamless communication with expert teams from Zhongshan Hospital and Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, timely and dynamically adjust medication and treatment strategies. The day after surgery, Lele successfully withdrew from the ventilator. On the eighth day after surgery, Lele was transferred from CCU to the general ward. After another comprehensive evaluation today, it meets the discharge criteria and the "boat of life" is once again set sail.
Professor Ye Ming, Director of Pediatric Cardiology at Fudan University, introduced that the efforts and accumulation of several generations at the Cardiovascular Center, as well as the strong support of well-known domestic heart transplant institutions, have laid a solid foundation for the development of heart transplantation. Professor Wang Yi, Dean of Pediatrics at Fudan University, stated that since obtaining the qualification of an organ transplant institution in August last year, the hospital has carried out a total of 36 organ transplants. At present, Fudan Pediatrics is one of the few medical institutions in China that has the ability to carry out heart, liver, and kidney transplantation at the same time, which will bring good news to more children. This also marks that the hospital has achieved the goal of being at the top of the domestic and Asia leading in the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and critical diseases.