Chinese doctors have successfully transplanted the world’s smallest artificial heart into a seven-year-old child, marking a significant milestone in the development of pediatric transplantation.
The operation was performed at Sehe Hospital, which is part of the Tongji Medical College at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
On April 15, news broke of the successful surgery, led by Dr. Dong Niango, the head of the cardiovascular surgery department. The doctors used a device with a magnetic levitation pump, which had been developed over three years for treating patients with end-stage heart failure. The device helped restore the child’s heart and lung function.
The device weighs only 45 grams, with a pump diameter of 2.9 cm. This is the third generation of artificial heart, offering several advantages over previous models, such as low energy consumption, long battery life, high reliability, and the ability to automatically adapt to the recipient’s bodily condition.
