Heart Transplant

The Multi-Organ Transplant clinic performs pediatric heart transplants, and cares for patients before, during and after the procedure.

This clinic was established in 1994 to co-ordinate the care of children who had undergone solid organ transplantation. In 2013 the pediatric heart transplant program at BC Children's Hospital was developed and launched in collaboration with the Provincial Health Services Authority and BC Transplant.

After heart transplant, patients are followed closely in the clinic. At 18 years of age, patients are transitioned to their local adult transplant follow-up program.

Resources

British Columbia Transplant Society
TransWeb
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS): This website includes excellent transplant education materials for patients wanting to know more about kidney transplantation.

History

The first human heart transplant was performed in 1967 in Cape Town, South Africa. The following year, the first infant heart transplant was performed in New York. This transplant was unsuccessful. Many years later, in 1984, Dr. Leonard Bailey transplanted a baboon heart into a new baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome at Loma Linda in California. This procedure captured world-wide attention and inspired research and innovation into pediatric heart transplant.

Now, heart transplants are done successfully in children from as early as 36 weeks gestation. The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto pioneered ABO-incompatible transplant for infants in 1996, which has helped to address the problem of organ donor crisis for infants.