World’s first partial heart transplant completed in newborn with truncus arteriosus

Duke Health announced successful completion of the world’s first partial heart transplant, using living arteries and valves from a donor heart that were fused onto the existing heart of a newborn.

The patient, Owen Monroe from Leland, North Carolina, was born with truncus arteriosus — a condition in which the left and right main coronary arteries fused together — as well as atrial regurgitation in one valve. The combination made it unlikely the patient would survive until full heart transplant; therefore, living tissue from the donor heart of another infant, not suitable for full transplant but with strong valves, was used for the novel procedure.
Read the full story in Healio.