In a world-first, Duke University surgeons in North Carolina, USA, have revived a “dead” infant heart and used it in a life-saving transplant.
Notably, the recipient, a three-month-old baby, is now thriving six months after the operation.
The breakthrough technique, called “on-table reanimation”, involves bringing a donor heart back to life outside the body.
Specifically, surgeons achieved this using a special device built just for infant organs.
It included an oxygenator, a centrifugal pump, and a reservoir to collect expelled blood.
This method worked where traditional systems failed. Typically, the devices that preserve organs are too large for infant hearts.
Therefore, the team engineered a solution to fit the tiny size and fragility of a baby’s heart.
Six months after surgery, doctors confirmed the baby’s heart functions normally. Importantly, there are no signs of rejection.
This success offers fresh hope for newborns in critical need of heart transplants.
In fact, this breakthrough could expand the donor pool by as much as 30 percent.
Aaron Williams, one of the study authors, shared the results in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Moreover, he emphasized that the method is not only effective but also cheaper and easier than current transplant preservation technologies.
“This has never been done before in heart transplants with success,” Williams said. “It’s a game-changer. Indeed, this method can work around the world.”
The team used a donor heart from a circulatory death (DCD) case. DCD hearts are taken after the heart stops and blood circulation ceases, rather than the more common brain death (DBD) donations.
Because of this, DCD donations involve stricter criteria, and they have long remained underused in transplants.
Currently, DCD hearts make up only 0.5% of pediatric transplants.
As a result, this limited number often leads to tragic outcomes, as infants die waiting for a matching heart.
Despite the excitement, critics raise ethical concerns.
Specifically, some question the morality of restarting a heart after death only to remove it for transplant.
The debate continues over how to define death and ensure ethical practices in such procedures.
Nevertheless, the innovation marks a major shift in pediatric organ transplants.
For countless babies waiting for a second chance at life, it brings real, renewed hope.