Matthew a healthy three year old toddler, from Takapuna, New Zealand has already had two open heart surgeries. If he had been born two years earlier the doctors could not have saved him.

An eight hour procedure called Norwood/Rastelli was performed on Matthew when he was five days old. In the procedure his right ventricle and aorta were patched by using human and animal tissue (cow and pig).

Matthew’s mother said "I was so scared. I’ll never forget hearing my husband on the other end of the phone telling me the news.

"Basically his heart was a mess. It was like a jigsaw puzzle that hadn’t been put together properly and with some of the vital pieces missing."

You will find more of Matthew’s story, by clicking on his name Matthew.

Picture by BEN WATSON/North Shore Times.

Post from: Blisstree

Heart Donor Tissue

The research on lung transplants being developed in Toronto CA. is one of the most exciting developments in transplant research in years.

Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, and his colleagues at the Toronto General Hospital created a bubble to place damaged lungs in. The lungs can keep breathing for 12 to 18 hours at normal body temperature.

The older method of working on the lungs, while they were still in the body had to be completed within 6 hours, or the lungs would die.

The new method also gives hope for patients waiting for transplants such as livers, kidneys or heart.

Currently, only 10 to 15 per cent of donated lungs are suitable for transplants. Keshavjee estimated the new technique could allow up to 60 per cent of lungs to be repaired and used.

The world’s first successful lung transplant was performed in 1983 at Toronto General Hospital by Dr. Joel Cooper. The patient lived for another six years before dying of kidney failure at age 64.

For more in depth detail please check out the web site within the Toronto doctors.

Post from: Blisstree

Exciting News For Transplant Patients

A young Michigan teen, 17 year old Danielle, was given the gift of life today. At a little past 2 AM, the young lady– who had been diagnosed with CHF earlier this Spring received her second heart transplant. Her first was when she was 5 weeks old.

Good luck to this Port Huron teen and her family! Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Post from: Blisstree

Young girl gets the gift of life- a heart!

Shortening the interval reduces the time that transplantable organs are deprived of oxygen, which likely increases the success of transplants. It may also help to increase the number of available organs for donations. This is important because as many as one in four babies awaiting a heart transplant dies while on the waiting list, according to the New England Journal of Medicine study.

to read more 

Post from: Blisstree

Heart transplants needed among infants as well- time matters

Heart transplants save the lives of more than 2,100 Americans every year. But many more patients are still waiting for a new heart to become available, and hundreds will die without ever getting a second chance at life.

With that being said researchers are asking the question, “will heart transplants become a thing of the past?” Will technology become the answer? Yes and perhaps were the answers!

The HeartMate II is an example of this technology. It is the size of a D-cell battery, with a tube that pokes through the skin and connects to a battery pack. It aids in pumping blood through the body as patients hearts fail.

The HeartMate device has since been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April of 2008.

via Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Heart transplants to become obsolete?

Many times patients that are born with such congenital heart diseases as right ventricular outflow tract and they face many procedures and surgeries, which usually consist of opening the chest to replace the damaged valves.

“We were able to successfully implant the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve percutaneously in the first three patients treated in this trial. All of the patients are recovering and are expected to go home today,” said Dr. Ziyad M. Hijazi, director of the Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease, chief of the section of pediatric cardiology and professor in the departments of pediatrics and internal medicine at Rush University, Chicago.

The FDA had conditionally approved this in late 2007 and they are in hopes that these successes will help gain commercial approval to meet all patients needs. Exciting!!

via Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Non-invasive heart valve replacement- Wow!

The two major hurdles that needed to be tackled are becoming a reality…

…via Science Daily- solve two problems in the development of a stem cell heart patch. The first is undesirable side effects, such as arrhythmia, that can result from immature and undeveloped cardiomyocytes being introduced to the heart. The second is the need for a scaffold that is biocompatible with the heart and able to hold the new cardiomyocytes in place while they integrate into the existing heart tissue. Matching the material to human heart muscle is also hoped to prevent deterioration of heart function before the cells take over.

Are you following me on this one? The current researchers are now understanding how stem cell-derived developing heart cells can be matured in the laboratory and how materials could be synthesized to form a patch to deliver them to damaged areas of the heart. Seriously exciting news. More has to be done and many more hours and months and years of hard work is yet to come, but just think for a second… Would you be willing to give this a try, even in its experimental stage?

Post from: Blisstree

Major Advancement For Stem Cells And Heart Repair

Could it be the ability to keep very sick hearts alive and working effectively for longer amounts of time then previous? Quite possibly! Could it be that even though there are more registered organ donors, our organs aren’t exactly what they used to be? High cholesterol, smoking, alcohol abuse and older donors… a different type of death.

What do you suppose is the solution? Well I do have 2 words for you… stem cells. I know how controversial and heated the debate is but just think what the implications could be if we were able to regenerate healthy heart tissue. Here is what the UK government has suggested.

The UK government is currently looking into turning our current system of “opting in” to being a donor, to “opting out”, where everybody is considered a donor unless they explicitly state otherwise. But this is a thorny issue, and there are some who believe that no matter how many people are dying on waiting list, the suggestion that the state presume control of our bodies is one step too far.

How do you feel about the above mentioned? Kind of interesting…

Post from: Blisstree

More Organ Donors But Less Heart Transplants

It seems that now researchers are suggesting that transfusions among bypass surgery patients are not as favorable as we thought…

The research found patients who received a red blood cell transfusion experienced a three-fold increase in complications arising from lack of oxygen to key organs — such as in a heart attack or stroke. This is a finding at odds with the widely held belief that red cell transfusion improves delivery of oxygen to tissues.

These findings were regardless of hemoglobin levels. Over half of all heart surgery patients receive a blood transfusion during surgery as standard protocol. Next up would be more research to see if changing the parameters and guidelines makes a difference or if this is coincidental research findings.

via Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Red Blood Cell Transfusions Prove To Have An Adverse Effect On Heart Surgery Patients

I know the why and how at the genetic level, but it just isn’t fair for the children, parents or families and friends that are affected by congenital heart disease. I also know that we have come along way with research, procedures and treatments but there are still plenty of babies born every day that pass while waiting for a heart transplant or die while fighting for their lives.

I would like to remind everyone about the importance of organ donation. you could be saving a very needy child’s life. It is a wonderful gift to leave behind after we are gone.

Post from: Blisstree

Organ Donation Is Imperative For Children With Congenital Heart Disease