A boy from Maryland became the first patient in the world to receive a live heart valve transplant through a partial heart transplant, replacing an artificial heart valve. The surgery, considered “historic,” took place at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Cardiac Surgery Chief Yves d’Udekem said in a statement, “I am honored this family trusted our hospital and our team’s expertise to perform this life-changing first-of-its-kind procedure for Preston. I look forward to hearing about all the new activities and adventures he and his family can do once he is completely recovered from surgery.”
By replacing the valve with a live valve, the 11-year-old, Preston, will have “freedom from a lifetime of blood-thinning medication,” the hospital said. The tissue implant also decreases the likelihood of the child needing future open-heart surgeries, as the live tissue is expected to “grow along with him.”
“In general, partial heart transplants are rare,” the hospital added. “Prior to this surgery, four U.S. hospitals have used partial heart transplants to replace a failing, living heart valve with a valve from a donor heart, but no organization to date has ever replaced a prosthetic valve with a real one.”
“Everyone is ecstatic with his progress so far,” said Lauren Porter, Preston’s mother. “We hope having this surgery will give him a lot more freedom to do the things he loves in his life, and we hope that by sharing our story we are helping to make procedures like this more available to kids who need them in the future.”
Some children have been unable to receive life-saving surgeries due to their unvaccinated status. In February, a 12-year-old girl, Adaline, was unable to be placed on a list to receive a heart transplant due to her lack of COVID-19 and flu vaccination.
