The Gregorio Marañón public University Hospital has successfully performed the first partial heart transplant in Europe on a baby under one year old. Mariami, seven months old, is progressing favorably on the hospital ward after leaving the Intensive Care unit, where she has only stayed two days. The Minister of Health, , attended the mother-child complex of the health center this Tuesday to celebrate this milestone in health. “This is a gigantic step that will revolutionize the world of transplants,” he expressed. In his opinion, this achievement has been possible thanks to “the concern, enthusiasm and perseverance of the professionals of the Cardiology service, a national benchmark in this field.”
The technique is endorsed by the Regional Office and the National Transplant Organization. It consists of implanting only a part of this organ in children who require valve replacement surgery, but do not have muscle failure that requires complete intervention. Currently, these pediatric patients receive valve implants made of materials that do not grow with the body, which forces them to undergo several operations throughout their lives to replace them. With this innovative procedure this is avoided, since they grow with the patient. Therefore, subjecting people to new operations is dispensed with.
This especially complex case has required the combination of two other techniques in which the Gregorio Marañón Public Hospital has also been a pioneering center, in 2018 and 2021, since it has been carried out between donor and recipient, as well as a donation in controlled asystole, making it a triple achievement.
With this advance, children whose heart valves have not formed adequately will benefit, causing serious malfunction. In Spain, around 4,000 children are born each year with this type of health problem.
More possibilities for patients
In addition to the advantage of the implant growing, the technique will allow greater use of children’s cardiac donations, which are very limited. Taking into account that children who need a total transplant will always be prioritized, this strategy opens up three new scenarios where one or two children can benefit from a partial transplant, depending on the valves required.
The donated heart can be used to remove valves if there is no full-sized, matched transplant recipient at the time. If the muscle of the donor organ does not work well, but its valves do, these can be used. When a minor requires a complete procedure, but their own valves are functional, these can also be used for one or two partial transplants in other recipients.
Councilor Matute has taken the opportunity to highlight the altruism of the people of Madrid. “We are very supportive of the donation,” he expressed before highlighting the donation. The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has congratulated the health professionals on social network X before expressing her pride in public health in Madrid.
