On Tuesday, the Community of Madrid reported that the La Paz public hospital, located in the Spanish capital, had performed an intestine transplant on a 13-month-old girl from a donor whose heart had stopped beating. A world first.
The young patient, named Emma, suffered from intestinal insufficiency diagnosed from her first month of life. Her state of health was very degraded, according to the newspaper The country, based on the words of the Ministry of Health of Madrid. Without this transplant, the girl had little chance of survival.
Taken from a deceased donor
The notion of donation in “asystole” refers to donations of organs and tissues from people whose cardiac and respiratory functions have been declared interrupted. After the death of the donor, the organs and tissues destined for donation are preserved by means of an extracorporeal oxygenation system.
But as for intestine donations, never before the Madrid operation had this technique been carried out. Scientists considered it invalid, believing that the characteristics of the intestines did not allow them to remain viable after the death of the donor.
However, after three years of investigation, the Institute of Medical Health Research of Hospital La Paz proved that this conception was incorrect, which led to the success of little Emma’s operation. In fact, her case made such an operation possible.
“It is important to highlight what this transplant represents and what it will represent in Spain and in the rest of the world. We are talking about a world milestone and an absolutely pioneering intervention”, says Beatriz Domínguez Gil, head of the Spanish National Organization. of transplant.
Automatic donations in Spain
For the Madrid health authorities, the success of this transplant opens up endless possibilities. Little Emma’s case “makes possible the use of solid organs that would otherwise be lost.” Currently, in Spain 30% of people on the waiting list for an intestine transplant die, they point out The country. In addition, there are very few pediatric donors available in the country, said Francisco Hernández Oliveros, head of the department of pediatric surgery at Hospital La Paz.
At a news conference, Emma’s father said: “We didn’t experience liberation until she went into the operating room. Our life turned 180 degrees. She’s doing much better, she’s already starting to crawl.”
According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Spain is one of the leading countries in organ donation, with a donation rate twice the European average. In 2021, 5,000 transplants were carried out in the Iberian kingdom, 8% more than in 2020. In the country, people automatically donate their organs unless they have expressly unsubscribed from the system.
Source: BFM TV
