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1st ‘domino’ transplant performed in babies saves 2 girls born with heart defects

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When the Skaats family learned baby Mia needed a new heart they felt devastated. But Mia helped another family in domino heart transplant, a first in babies.

By Meghan Holohan

When Mia Skaats was only 10 days old, she began breathing rapidly, and her mom, Nicole Skaats, immediately knew something was wrong. Doctors eventually determined the newborn had cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart struggles to bump blood to the rest of the body, and she was in heart failure.

Mia needed a heart transplant, so when one became available, the Skaats family felt overjoyed their daughter, born in September 2022, would have a new chance at life. Check out the full story from NBC’s Today.

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How a heart transplant brought 2 moms together — and led them to ‘America’s Got Talent’

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By Lottie Elizabeth Johnson

Most contestants who go on “America’s Got Talent” have the same aspiration: They want to achieve stardom.

For many of the acts on the competition show — whether it’s singing or dancing or ventriloquism or magic — the “AGT” audition is a major stepping stone on the path to success and fame. Read the full story in Yahoo Entertainment.

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Have a heart, gallant youth survives two transplants

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By Sylvester Brown Jr.

Imagine having a four-year-old son who seemed healthy and normal. Suddenly, your child has trouble keeping food down and then loses his appetite completely. You take him to the hospital, and he’s diagnosed with a bowel obstruction. You then find out it’s a misdiagnosis; your child’s heart is failing, and he’s been placed on the donor list for an immediate heart transplant.

“The news hit us like a ton of bricks,” said Makiyah Mosley-Flye. She and her husband, Antonio, live in Cape Girardeau, Mo. They have two children: 12-year-old daughter, Adrianna and Kyndric who’s now 8-years-old. Read the full story in The St. Louis American.

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Intermountain’s heart transplant team celebrates 600th transplant

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By Emily Ashcraft, KSL.com

MURRAY — Jessica Leon received her “miracle” on April 27, and she expressed gratitude Tuesday for her “hero donor” who allowed her to continue raising her two daughters.

Leon said she can’t imagine the pain the heart donor’s family went through, but she said with their “merciful decision, they prevented my daughters (from going) through the same type of loss.” Read the full story on KSL.com.

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In historic procedure, donor liver protects heart transplant

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By University of Washington School of Medicine

Doctors in Seattle are reporting a history-making case in which a patient received two donor organs, a liver and a heart, to prevent the extreme likelihood that her body would reject a donor heart transplanted alone. In this innovative case, the organ recipient’s own healthy liver was transplanted, domino-like, into a second patient who had advanced liver disease. Read the full article in Medical Xpress.

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‘Access to care is key’: Closing the race disparity gap in heart transplant

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By Regina Schaffer

Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a three-part Healio Exclusive series on developments and challenges in heart transplantation. Part 1 can be viewed here.

Heart transplant is the most effective treatment for end-stage HF but it is also the scarcest of HF therapies — particularly for patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Read the full article in Healio.

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Girl receives heart of 4-year-old-boy in first transplant of its kind in Ukraine

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By Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova, CNN

Amid the raging war and constant threat of Russian missiles, a successful heart transplant has been performed on a 6-year-old girl in Kyiv, authorities with the Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday.

The three-hour operation, which took place on Sunday evening, gave the girl the heart of a 4-year-old boy, whom doctors had declared brain dead after suffering an aneurysm. Read the full story on CNN.

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Lessons Learned: First Pig-to-Human Heart Transplant

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By Deborah Kotz

A new study published in The Lancet on June 29 has revealed the most extensive analysis to date on what led to the eventual heart failure in the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into a human patient. This groundbreaking procedure was conducted by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) physician-scientists in January 2022 and marked an important milestone for medical science. Read the full article in UMB News.

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