A research team in Spain has successfully transplanted one intestine into a 13-month-old girl.
Due to intestinal failure, the little Emma’s gut was unable to absorb nutrients from food.
She underwent a number of procedures prior to the transplant.
Given that there are many more receivers than donors, organ transplantation for babies has proven to be extremely difficult.
Many people think that asystolic donation, or donation following cardio-circulatory arrest, will solve the donor shortage.
Due to severe risks of infection and rejection, the intestine was an exception; 30% of applicants pass away while waiting.
To prove that such a procedure is possible, the research team at La Paz hospital conducted three years of studies and trials.
‘A milestone’
Emma’s operation was the world’s first intestinal transplant from an asystole donor.
“It is important to emphasize, as director of the ONT (National Transplant Organization), what this transplant represents, what it represents for Emma, but also what this transplant will represent for many children in Spain and in other countries around the world because we are really talking about a milestone, it is the first intestinal transplant from an asystole donor to be carried out in Spain and in the world,” said Beatriz Dominguez Gil, Director of the Spanish National Transplant Organization.
According to data from the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation, Spain is the world leader in organ transplants, accounting for 5% of global organ donations in 2021.
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