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Ten-year-old girl gets heart transplant in Belarus

MINSK, 18 June (BelTA) – Belarusian transplant surgeons have successfully operated on a ten-year-old girl who needed a donor heart, Deputy Director for Surgery at the Cardiology National Research Center, Doctor of Medicine Sergei Spiridonov told reporters, BelTA has learned.

The patient had developed a heart failure. She was on the transplant waiting list for a donor heart for several months while doctors were trying to find a donor organ for her. The girl’s condition was deteriorating. She spent 1.5 months in an intensive care ward in another hospital. Thus, a heart transplant became the only option. She was brought to the Cardiology center four hours before the surgery that took place on 7 June. Four days later she was transferred to a regular department from the intensive care ward. The surgery was performed in a routine manner; the clinic was prepared for that.

The donor heart was brought to the center by a helicopter of the Emergencies Ministry. “Transplants must occur within four hours after the donor heart is recovered,” Sergei Spiridonov said.

This is the third time a pediatric patient has received a donor heart at the hospital. However, this patient was the youngest of all. Belarusian cardiac surgeons have amassed a wealth of experience in heart transplants. Since the start of the year, the clinic has performed 28 such surgeries.

According to Head of the 3rd Cardiology Department of the hospital Larisa Rachok, the post-surgery period is proceeding normally. The girl’s condition is good; no transplant rejection has developed. The girl is getting ready for the hospital discharge.

On 18 June the girl is celebrating her 11th birthday. On this occasion, the hospital’s team has given her a gift. “We hope she will go back to normal life and will live like other kids,” Sergei Spiridonov said.

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