Healthy Discoveries: Italian doctors implant permanent artificial heart into boy

Healthy discoveries

Commonly temporary artificial hearts are used for patients awaiting a suitable human transplant, but the boy suffered from an disease that made a long wait impossible.

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, for the first time in the world, Italian doctors have implanted a permanent artificial heart into a 15-year-old boy.


Heart surgeons at Rome's Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital performed the 10-hour breakthrough operation, transplanting an artificial heart to be used on a permanent basis rather than a more public temporary artificial heart.


The boy, who underwent a 10 hour operation last week is still in intensive care but he has woken up following the surgery and it was said that he would be well.


The artificial heart is four centimetres (1.6 inches) wide and weighs 400 grammes (14 ounces), and special measures were taken to reduce the risk of infection.


"The risk of infection represents the main cause of failure of alternative solutions attempted to date worldwide," said the hospital.


The procedure "opened new therapeutic perspectives and hope for life for all patients with cardiac diseases for whom a transplant is needed. especially for those like Thursday's patient who cannot receive a donated heart for clinical reasons," the statement said.

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