Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón Hospital has successfully completed a double transplant of a heart and liver in the same operation, information released by The National Transplants Organisation (ONT).
The operation, that lasted 12 hours and involved 30 medical professionals, was undertaken on a woman who was terminally ill, conducted after the patient had undergone ‘Fontan’ surgery, involving separating the blood circulation in the body from the lungs.
The operation is undertaken on people who are born with just one ventricle (heart chamber) instead of two.
Fontan surgery is life-saving, but can cause liver damage over time. If the operation is unsuccessful both organs will fail.
Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón Hospital is one of the few hospitals in the world who have surgeons with the experience required to carry out a delicate and complex procedure.
Liver transplant unit specialists, general surgery professionals, the national blood bank, and experts in congenital heart conditions in adults all worked together on the unnamed woman’s operation.
The Gregorio Marañón Hospital is the national referral centre for congenital heart conditions.
