AUSTIN, Texas — Thanks to the team at the Dell Children's Medical Center, an 18-year-old received the gift of life with the center's first heart transplant surgery.
Pediatric heart transplant surgeons implanted a donor heart in the patient on Oct. 3. It was the first "solid organ transplant of any kind" at Dell Children's.
“This is a new era at Dell Children’s. A heart transplant is the first of many solid organ transplant procedures Dell Children’s will offer in the future as we continue to build a world-class program that expands the breadth and depth of our expertise to meet the needs of all pediatric patients in Central Texas and beyond,” said Dr. Charles Fraser, chief of Pediatric and Congenital Surgery for UT Health Austin’s Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease at Dell Children’s. “Giving the gift of organ or tissue is such a transformational gift, and this life-saving surgery would not have been possible without the generous and courageous family who chose to donate life.”
According to Dell Children's, the 18-year-old was in the end stage of heart failure and suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a disease when the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick. The patient is now recovering and is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
The medical center launched its first pediatric heart transplant program in Central Texas more than two months ago back in July.
Dell Children's heart transplant team is led by Dr. Charles Fraser, a pediatric heart surgeon; Dr. Carlos Mery, surgical director of the Heart Transplant Program, and Dr. Ziv Beckerman, a pediatric heart surgeon.
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