WUHAN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A hospital in the city of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, said Thursday it had successfully carried out a heart transplant on a 66-day-old 3-kg infant.
This is the youngest and lightest baby to receive such a surgery reported in China, according to the Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huangzhong University of Science and Technology.
The baby girl was found to have aortic stenosis before she was born on April 3, and was diagnosed in May with congenital noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium and other congenital cardiac defects. Experts said that heart transplant was the only way to extend the patient's life.
On June 8, the baby matched with a suitable heart donor from a 4-year-old child who lost all brain function. The surgery was conducted at 2:35 p.m. the same day and lasted about five hours.
So far, the baby's heart and lung functions have gradually recovered and she is in stable condition, said Dong Nianguo, head of the surgery team.
