Doctors revive baby hearts for transplant in groundbreaking study
Duke University doctors have come up with a new way to bring donor hearts back to life outside the body, giving hope to babies who need heart transplants.
Their on-table heart reanimation technique uses a custom-designed machine to test if infant donor hearts are strong enough before surgery.
The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Babies who got these revived hearts did great
The study showed that babies who got these revived hearts did great—no rejection and strong heart function after six months.
This could mean 30% more donor hearts for infants, helping save kids who might not survive the wait for a transplant.
This is a big step for little ones.
Researchers are also working on other ways to preserve donor organs
There are some ethical questions about reviving hearts after death, so researchers are also working on other ways to preserve donor organs without reanimation.
Still, this breakthrough could make life-saving heart transplants possible for more kids around the world.