Heart transported with an innovative system saves the life of a child

“A small heart weighing 60 grams saved the life of a child hospitalized for months at the Infant Jesus. It is the first transplant in Italy in which an innovative temperature-controlled heart transport system was used at a pediatric level”. The Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome highlights this in a note. “The system – adds the hospital – guarantees a constant temperature of the organ of 5 degrees and, through a dedicated ‘app’, allows the doctors involved in the transplant to follow the geolocation of the transport and remotely monitor the temperature of the heart”. The most significant advantage – explains Antonio Amodeo, head of Compensation, Transplantation and Cardio-respiratory mechanical assistance to the Child Jesus – is that within this system you never reach temperatures below 2 degrees, as can happen in transport. traditional. The system prevents the risk of freezing parts of the surface of the heart by keeping the temperature of the entire organ constant. In fact, it is established that temperatures below 2 degrees cause damage to the cellular structure of the heart “. The system is already in use in some European hospitals while in Italy it has been used on some occasions only for the transport of organs for adults. Bambino Gesù was the first temperature-controlled transport in Italy of a heart intended for transplantation for a child “The Bambino Gesù hospital – concludes Amodeo – has chosen to invest in the most advanced technologies, as well as in scientific research, because the responsibility to give answers to families with a sick child who live the tragedy of waiting lists for heart transplantation. Our responsibility also extends to the families of donors whose great generosity is a precious gift that should never be put at risk. “How does the temperature-controlled system work?” The shortage of organs available and the need for long-term transport distances, has prompted research to invest in systems that can best guarantee the conservation of the organ to be transplanted, minimizing the risk of deterioration – recalls the Child Jesus – In the field of pediatric heart transplantation, where the availability of organs is extremely small, the ‘SherpaPak Cts’ temperature-controlled cardiac transport model has been perfected. The system, developed for some years by a US company and approved by the FDA in the United States and with the CE mark in the European Union, is made up of several components. The outermost part consists of a transport carrier that contains various temperature-controlled packaging elements. “At the center of the system” is a rigid shell in which the heart is immersed and suspended in a cold storage solution for the transport of donor hearts. The presence of dry ice on the outside of the container ensures a constant temperature around 5 degrees centigrade avoiding excessive cooling of the heart which could lead to cell damage. A data logger monitors and displays the temperature of the solution in which the heart is immersed during transport between operating rooms and allows the medical team involved in the transplant to monitor it all the way. There are also similar devices for the transport of other organs: lung and liver “, concludes the pediatric hospital.