- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,895
- Points
- 0
Science News | stuff.co.nz 09:32 25/05/2012
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00001-14.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00001-14.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Italian doctors have saved the life of a 16-month-old boy by implanting the world's smallest artificial
heart to keep the infant alive until a donor was found for a transplant.
The doctors at Rome's Bambino Gesu hospital said the operation was carried out last month and
made public this week. The baby, whose identity has not been disclosed, was kept alive for 13 days
before the transplant and is now doing well.
The baby was suffering from dilated myocardiopathy, a heart muscle disease which normally causes
stretched or enlarged fibres of the heart. The disease gradually makes the heart weaker, stopping its
ability to pump blood effectively.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Before the implant, the child also had a serious infection around a mechanical pump that had been
fitted earlier to support the function of his natural heart. The tiny titanium pump weighs only 11
grams and can handle a blood flow of 1.5 litres a minute. An artificial heart for adults weighs 900 grams.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-13.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-13.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00001-14.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00001-14.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Italian doctors have saved the life of a 16-month-old boy by implanting the world's smallest artificial
heart to keep the infant alive until a donor was found for a transplant.
The doctors at Rome's Bambino Gesu hospital said the operation was carried out last month and
made public this week. The baby, whose identity has not been disclosed, was kept alive for 13 days
before the transplant and is now doing well.
The baby was suffering from dilated myocardiopathy, a heart muscle disease which normally causes
stretched or enlarged fibres of the heart. The disease gradually makes the heart weaker, stopping its
ability to pump blood effectively.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Before the implant, the child also had a serious infection around a mechanical pump that had been
fitted earlier to support the function of his natural heart. The tiny titanium pump weighs only 11
grams and can handle a blood flow of 1.5 litres a minute. An artificial heart for adults weighs 900 grams.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-13.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-13.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
