Girl's original heart restarted 10 years after transplant
Heart specialist delighted at the successful
outcome of a pioneering operation that restarted the original heart of a girl
after her body rejected her donor organ -- ten years after the
implant!
Renowned heart specialist Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub today expressed delight at the successful outcome of a pioneering operation that restarted the original heart of a girl after her body rejected her donor organ.
Sir Magdi came out of retirement to advise on the groundbreaking surgery that reconnected 12-year-old Hannah Clark’s own dormant heart - 10 years after he performed her heart transplant.
The professor told BBC Breakfast that it was “not usual” for a transplant patient’s original heart to be left in place, and that his surgical team had thought there was a chance Hannah’s own heart would eventually recover.
“Her own heart has recovered. It really is absolutely wonderful news,” he told the programme. “At the time we had the idea that she had this very severe muscle disease and there was the outside possibility that her heart would recover. That was the idea and it worked out, so that was wonderful. Now she is a happy little girl with her own normal heart. The complications have all gone. This is a very happy ending.”
Bravo!
Posted: Thu - April 13, 2006 at 07:07 AM