Intestine Transplant Baby: Transplant In 13 Months Old Baby Emma, Who Are Her Parents?
People are interested to know about the controversial Intestine Transplant Baby. Yes, you heard it right, a 13-month-old baby becomes the world’s first successful intestine transplant recipient.
According to a press release from the La Paz hospital in Madrid, the first recipient of an intestinal transplant was a 1-year-old Spanish baby. The statement read, “The infant has since been discharged and is in wonderful condition at home with her parents.”
According to data from the Spanish health ministry, Spain is a global leader in organ transplants, performing more than 102 per million residents in 2021, a rate surpassed by the United States.
Because Emma’s intestine was too short, she was given an intestinal failure diagnosis at barely one month old, and her health progressively declined until she received the multi-visceral transplant.
Emma received a new liver, stomach, spleen, and pancreas in addition to the intestine.
Is Intestine Transplant Baby Emma Fine Now?
Emma’s mother told reporters, “The wonderful news is that life goes on. She is very brave and proves every day that she wants to keep on alive,” before expressing gratitude to the donor’s family and the medical staff. Emma is currently 17 months old, she stated.
After medical professionals determine that a deceased individual is not breathing or has a heartbeat, asystole donations are made from that person. The donor’s organs are subsequently artificially preserved via the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation technique, despite the absence of oxygenated blood (ECMO).
Due to the peculiarities of the digestive organ, keeping an intestine from an asystole donation is challenging, which makes Emma’s situation unique. Most donated organs come from donors who have experienced brain death but still have a beating heart since this preserves the organs.
But asystole donations have become more commonplace since their inception, accounting for around one-third of all donations in Spain, according to La Paz.
Who Are the Parents of Intestine Transplant Baby Emma?
One-year-old Emma recently underwent a world-first transplant of a new intestine, stomach, liver, pancreas, and spleen. A grateful Cork grandmother has thanked “all the Corkonians” for their support.
Although Helen O’Sullivan is a native of Blarney, she has lived in Spain since the 1970s. Over a year and a half old, Emma underwent a life-saving transplant at the La Paz hospital in Madrid, according to the grandmother, and is “totally thriving.”
Ms. O’Sullivan said on Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan that her granddaughter was born with a too-short bowel, spent six months in the hospital after her birth, and underwent four unsuccessful procedures.
After only three years of research, and because the gut poses the highest risk of transplant failure, Emma’s medical team was forced to attempt a ground-breaking procedure as her condition worsened.
In addition to receiving a new liver, stomach, spleen, and pancreas, baby Emma is now the first person in the world to successfully receive an intestinal transplant.
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