Belarus’ first pediatric heart transplant performed on 12-13 February

Belarus’ first pediatric heart transplant surgery has been performed in an 11-year old girl at the Cardiology Research Center on the night of 12/13 February, BelTA learnt from Director of the center Alexander Mrochek.

“This surgery has been performed in Belarus for the first time. Naturally, it was associated with some challenges. After all, the girl is growing and we had to find a suitable heart,” Alexander Mrochek said.

He informed that the girl had dilated cardiomyopathy. “It is an uncontrollable progressive heart failure. This is usually a congenital condition. Patients diagnosed with this disease are usually recommended a heart transplant surgery”.

The surgery took more than four hours. It was performed by a team of 12 specialists of the center. The team was led by head of the heart surgery laboratory of the Cardiology Research Center Yuri Ostrovsky. The little patient has already left the intensive care ward and feels well.

According to Alexander Mrochek, five children who need a heart transplant surgery will be operated in the near future.

In 2012 Belarusian specialists conducted heart transplant surgeries in 21 adult patients. In February 2012, the Cardiology Research Center performed Belarus’ first heart-kidney transplantation. The specialists are now preparing for extremely complicated operations – heart-liver and heart-lung transplant surgeries. By the way, the first lung transplant is expected to be performed in Belarus in H2 2013.

Belarus ranks first in the CIS in terms of organ transplant surgeries. In 2012 some 274 transplant surgeries were performed in Belarus. The number of transplant surgeries per one million people in Belarus stands at 29. To compare, the figure in Russia is 9.1 and 2.2 in Ukraine.