Child transplant milestone at Great Ormond Street

June 22nd 2005

The world famous Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London, UK celebrated its 100th lung and 200th heart transplant yesterday.

The children’s hospital is the largest paediatric cardiothoracic transplant centre in Europe, carrying out 30 heart and lung transplants on children each year.

It was among the first in the world to carry out the transplants on children when it was established in 1988, and since then has helped hundreds of children.

Professor Martin Elliott, head of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital, was part of the original team that undertook the first procedure - a heart transplant on a boy with congenital heart disease.

He said: "Our understanding of transplants has significantly improved over the years thanks to better care of donors, advances in drugs, intensive care, technology and systems.

"This in turn has allowed many of our patients to live longer and fuller lives. Survival rates for lung and heart transplants have also increased - a testament to the multi-professional team effort involved in transplantation."

Professor Elliott hopes that the milestone will highlight the shortage of donors for childhood transplants.

"More children could be given a second chance at life if more people added their names to the NHS Organ Donor Register, making sure their family know of their decision.

"Many families who refuse to allow organ donation do so because they do not know what their loved ones would have wanted," he added.

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Related Information

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