The Gregorio Marañón University Hospital has successfully performed Europe's first partial heart transplant on a seven-month-old baby. Mariami is recovering well after leaving Intensive Care just two days post-surgery. This breakthrough, endorsed by transplant authorities, combines pioneering techniques and could transform treatments for children with heart defects.
The public Gregorio Marañón University Hospital in Madrid has achieved a medical milestone by performing Europe's first partial heart transplant on a baby under one year old. The patient, seven-month-old Mariami, left the Intensive Care Unit after just two days and is now recovering well on the hospitalization ward.
Madrid's Health Counselor, Fátima Matute, visited the facility on Tuesday to celebrate the accomplishment. "This is a giant step that will revolutionize the world of transplants," Matute stated, praising the dedication, enthusiasm, and perseverance of the Cardiology service professionals, a national benchmark.
The technique, approved by the Regional Office and National Transplant Organization, involves implanting only a part of the heart in children requiring valve replacement surgery without complete muscle failure. Unlike current valve implants made from non-growing materials, this option allows the implant to develop with the patient, preventing multiple surgeries over their lifetime.
This procedure integrates two pioneering techniques from the same hospital: transplants with incompatible blood groups (2018) and controlled asystole donation (2021), marking a triple breakthrough. It will benefit children with congenital valve malformations, affecting around 4,000 births annually in Spain.
It also enhances the use of limited infant heart donations. While prioritizing full transplants, it enables scenarios such as extracting valves from hearts unsuitable for total transplant or reusing the recipient's valves in other patients. Matute commended the altruism of Madrid residents in donations, while President Isabel Díaz Ayuso congratulated the team on social media X, expressing pride in Madrid's public health system.
