A case of successful orthotopic heart retransplantation in an 11-year-old child

Abstract

Objective: to present a clinical case of an 11-year-old child who underwent repeat heart transplantation (HT) at Almazov National Medical Research Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia.Materials and methods. A case of successful heart retransplantation in an 11-year-old child with cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is presented.Results. The postoperative period after heart retransplantation had no significant differences with the postoperative period of primary heart recipients. The complexity of the intraoperative stage was determined by pronounced adhesions. As part of preoperative preparation, the patient underwent chest CT scan, which, in our experience, allows us to evaluate the heart syntopy and, in turn, is an important preparatory stage in planning repeat interventions.Conclusion. Our first experience of cardiac retransplantation in pediatric patients suggests that repeat HT is the most optimal treatment for pediatric patients with CAV and requires more thorough preoperative preparation.

Keywords

• heart retransplantation
• orthotopic heart retransplantation
• artificial circulation