Nearly a year after a newborn received the world's first partial heart transplant, the transplanted valves and arteries are functioning well and growing along with the child's heart — a key measure of success in the procedure paving the way for future advancements.
A team at Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health performed the partial heart transplant in a newborn with truncus arteriosus last spring. The transplant involved fusing the arteries and valves from a freshly donated heart onto the patient's existing heart. On Jan. 2., Duke Health physicians who led the landmark transplant published a study that showed the approach led to functioning parts of the heart that are growing along with the patient.
"This publication is proof that this technology works, this idea works, and can be used to help other children," Joseph Turek, MD, PhD, chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Duke who led the procedure, said in a news release. The procedure has since been performed 13 times at four centers around the world, nine of which have been performed at Duke.
Without the partial transplant, the standard of care for an infant in need of a heart valve replacement is using valves that are non-living, meaning they would not grow along with the child and would involve frequent replacements, which are risky. The Duke Health team also anticipates the method will open the door to domino heart transplants, in which a patient with healthy valves and in need of a stronger heart muscle receives a full transplant. Then, the healthy valves are donated to a second patient in need, hence the "domino" effect.