A rare heterotopic heart transplant was recently performed at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on a 7-year-old boy with restrictive cardiomyopathy.
During the seven-hour operation, a team of surgeons led by Bartley P. Griffith, MD, director of cardiothoracic transplantation, attached a second heart onto the boy's existing heart, allowing blood to flow into both hearts consecutively. The child, who was identified only as Christopher, will have two heartbeats for the rest of his life.
A press release issued by the hospital on October 20, five days after the operation was completed, said that the donor heart was functioning well and that Christopher was able to breathe on his own and sit up.
"We're extremely pleased with Christopher's progress," said Steven Webber, MD, director of pediatric heart transplantation. "We will closely watch the donor heart to see how it reacts to the increased pressure in his lungs brought on by the restrictive cardiomyopathy."
Restrictive cardiomyopathy causes the walls of the heart to thicken and become stiff, which reduces the amount of blood that the heart can pump to the body and lungs. Christopher's new donor heart is expected to slowly generate a greater output and thereby provide adequate blood flow.
A traditional transplant was ruled out in Christopher's case because a new heart would have been unable to pump against his high lung blood pressure. His family agreed that the heterotopic transplant could provide a better outcome than a heart/lung transplant, the only other option, the hospital said.
The procedure is the second pediatric heterotopic heart transplant performed at Children's Hospital. The first was performed in June 1987 on a 16-year-old boy who died two years later of chronic rejection. Worldwide, the procedure has been performed on about 20 children and is "slightly more common in adults," the press release said.
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