In Spain, an organ transplant has been performed for the first time in which a one-year-old girl received a new intestine from a donor who died of heart failure. In addition, she also had four other new entrails implanted. The La Paz hospital in Madrid announced this on Tuesday.
Baby Emma was diagnosed with bowel failure when she was barely a month old because her bowel was too short. As a result, her health deteriorated rapidly until she received an intestinal transplant at the age of thirteen months. In addition, she also got a new liver, stomach, spleen and pancreas.
“The child has now been released from hospital and is in perfect health at home with her parents,” the hospital said in a statement.
“The good news is that life goes on, that Emma is very brave and proves every day that she wants to live,” her mother said. Emma is now 17 months old.
Spain is a world leader in organ transplants. In 2021, more than 102 organ transplants were performed per million inhabitants (Spain has a total of 50 million inhabitants). According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, only the US is doing even better.
In most cases, transplanted organs come from donors who have been declared brain dead, but who still have a heartbeat, as this keeps the organs intact. In this case, however, the organs came from a patient where doctors noted the absence of a heartbeat and respiratory function. Since oxygenated blood is then lacking, the donor’s organs are then artificially preserved through a system called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). What makes Emma’s case special is the added difficulty of preserving a donated gut due to the properties of the digestive organ.
Meanwhile, about a third of all organ donations in Spain are made with organs preserved with ECMO, La Paz Hospital reports.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.