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At 18 days old and weighing just 5 pounds, tiny Owen Monroe will make history in 2022 as the world’s first partial heart transplant patient.
Now, over a year later, his tiny heart tissue is holding on strong and growing with his adorable toddler.
Duke Health doctors made a breakthrough in Monroe’s partial heart transplant using a new method of valve acquisition, and the approach shows two results as they monitor the child’s recovery after surgery. They found that this led to two valves and arteries functioning properly. The study results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“This publication proves that this technology works, that this idea works, and that it can be used to help other children,” said lead author of the study and director of pediatric cardiac surgery at Duke University. Dr. Joseph W. Turek said in a press release.
The study highlights that the procedure requires fewer drugs than a complete heart transplant, minimizing potential long-term side effects.
Dr. Turek emphasizes that this innovative approach paves the way for the possibility of domino heart transplants. In a domino heart transplant, when a patient receives a complete heart transplant and its healthy valves are passed on to another patient, one heart can save her two lives.
“We have the potential to double the number of hearts used for children with heart disease,” Turek said. “Although approximately half of all donated hearts meet the criteria to be used for a full transplant, we believe there are an equal number available for valves…utilized in the supply chain. “Adding a valve from a domino heart transplant could make a big difference.”
The procedure has now been performed 13 times at four global centers, with nine performed at Duke Health, including domino heart transplants, Duke Health said.
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