Five-year-old Tang-tang (湯湯), who was suffering from an enlarged heart, is now out of hospital after a successful heart transplant operation, making him the youngest patient in Asia to receive an artificial heart.
Chang Hsiao-huang (張效煌), a cardiovascular surgeon at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said the heart condition was discovered when Tang-tang was taken to hospital after suffering from several colds when he was about four months old.
In July, Tang-tang was hospitalized after his condition worsened.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
After two months without finding a suitable heart, doctors connected him to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to provide cardiac and respiratory support.
The ECMO, however, could only be used for two to four weeks. The longer it was used, the more side effects would appear, prompting Chang to decide to send for a "Berlin Heart," an extracorporeal heart designed for child patients, from the German Heart Institute in Berlin.
This helped doctors extend Tang-tang's life for another month, which gave them time to find a suitable heart for a transplant operation.
At the time, the Berlin Heart was still not approved for use in Taiwan, so the hospital team filed an urgent application with the Department of Health.
After only one-and-a-half days, the team managed to have a NT$1.6 million (US$49,500) Berlin Heart sent from the heart institute. Chang said on the day the artificial heart arrived Tang-tang was experiencing bleeding in his lungs, nose and mouth.
The Berlin Heart was put in place on Oct. 18, and on Nov. 20 a suitable replacement heart was found.
Chang said that artificial hearts are more difficult to make for children than for adults and that Germany is the only country that possesses the necessary technology.
A cake-cutting ceremony was held at the hospital on Wednesday to celebrate Tang-tang's "new life."
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