MEXICO: Surgeons transplanted a new heart and lungs into a Mexican teenager yesterday, giving her a second chance after she almost died from a botched transplant two weeks ago due to errors at the hospital.
Ms Jesica Santillan (17) was in critical condition after more than four hours of surgery at Duke University Hospital, in Durham, North Carolina. She was initially given organs from a donor with the wrong blood type which her body immediately started to reject.
Yesterday afternoon, doctors said the new heart and lungs were working and the girl had been taken off life-support. However, she was still under the effects of anaesthesia and not much was known about her condition.
"She will essentially let us know when she's recovered," said Dr Duane Davis, a surgeon on the transplant team. "She has a number of hurdles to overcome." The heart and lungs she received on February 7th were of the wrong blood type, for which Duke officials have admitted responsibility.
Ms Santillan, who had been waiting for three years for the transplant, has type-O blood. The original heart and lungs were from a type-A donor.
Ms Santillan suffered from restrictive cardiomyopathy, a rare condition characterised by stiffness of the heart muscle that prevents the heart chambers from filling adequately. - (Reuters)