Spanish baby receives pioneering bowel transplant

MADRID: A 1-year-old girl from Spain has become the world’s first successful recipient of an intestinal transplant from a donor who died of heart failure, Madrid’s La Paz Hospital announced Tuesday (11 October).

“The child has been discharged from the hospital and is in perfect condition at home with his parents,” the statement said.

Spain is the world leader in organ transplants, with more than 102 transplants per million population in 2021, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Health, surpassing only the United States.

Infant Emma was diagnosed with intestinal failure when she was just one month old because her intestines were too short, and her health rapidly deteriorated until she underwent multiple organ transplants.

Besides the intestines, Emma also received a new liver, stomach, spleen and pancreas.

“Life goes on. Emma is so brave and proves every day that she wants to stay alive,” the mother told reporters before thanking the donor’s family and doctors. Emma is now 17 months old, according to.

An asystole donation is made from a dead person after a doctor confirms the absence of heartbeat and respiratory function.

Donor organs, despite their lack of oxygenated blood, are artificially preserved by a system known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

What makes Emma’s case special is that the nature of her digestive system makes it difficult to save her intestines from systolic donation.

Most of the transplanted organs are from donors who have suffered brain death but have kept their hearts beating, which keeps the organs intact.

But since the development of modern cardiac arrest donations, the technology’s popularity has grown to account for about a third of all donations in Spain, La Paz said.