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First pediatric heart transplantation from a pediatric donor heart in Japan
Takayoshi Ueno1, Norihide Fukushima, Taichi Sakaguchi
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan. uenotm@surg1.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Background:
Since the revision of the Japanese Organ Transplantation Act, children younger than 15 years old can donate their organs after brain death.
Methods And Results:
A teenage boy with endstage restrictive cardiomyopathy underwent the first heart transplantation with a pediatric donor heart in Japan on April 12, 2011. He had a good postoperative clinical course and no histological rejection episodes. His waiting period was relatively short (237 days) compared with adult patients, because of the pediatric patient-first policy for a pediatric donor heart.
Conclusions:
To increase pediatric heart transplantation in Japan, further enlightenment of the general population about pediatric organ donation is desirable.
