"Infant Thrives After World's First Growing Heart Transplant Procedure"

Doctors at Duke Health have successfully performed a partial heart transplant on a baby with a congenital heart defect, using living valves and arteries from a donor heart. The procedure, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that the transplanted parts can grow with the child, potentially reducing the need for future surgeries. This innovative approach also introduces the concept of a domino heart transplant, where one donor heart can save multiple lives by providing healthy valves to other patients. The success of this procedure, which has been performed 13 times worldwide, could significantly impact pediatric heart disease treatment and organ donation efficiency.