It is a world first. A 13-month-old girl in Madrid received the first bowel transplant from a person at the end of life cardiac, announced the Spanish health authorities. The La Paz hospital has succeeded “the first bowel transplant in the world after a donation in asystole”, a state of cardiovascular insufficiency, announced the health authority of the Madrid region in a press release published on Tuesday. Little Emma “has already been released from the hospital and is in perfect condition at home with her parents”, Ana and Daniel, said the authority of the Spanish capital region.
Organ donation in asystole is practiced in patients at the end of life. This technique allows “after the certification of death, that the organs can be preserved with the infusion of oxygenated blood”, explained the authority. But until now, this technique “had never been used for the intestine, considering that it would not be valid for this organ”, and “despite the death of 30% of patients on the waiting list” , the authority said.
Three years of research and trials were necessary for several teams from this Madrid hospital to demonstrate the feasibility of such an operation before it was carried out. Spain remained the world champion in transplants in 2021, with 5% of organ donations in the world, while it represents only 0.6% of the world’s population, according to the World Observatory of Donations and transplants.