BIRMINGHAM, AL — Seventeen-month-old Emily Raley of Grand Bay received a successful heart transplant at UAB recently, but it took two “bridges” to get that far. The youngster first was resuscitated by a high tech device called ECMO, and then supported by an experimental heart-assist device that kept her alive for six weeks, until a donation came from the family of a child killed in an accident out-of-state.
The artificial device was surgically implanted on in November and supported Emily’s heart until her organ transplant, which took place on January 18. She was transferred from intensive care on January 25, and remains hospitalized at UAB. Her condition is Good.
James K. Kirklin, M.D., director of UAB’s Heart and Lung Transplant Program, said the assist device, called the “Berlin Heart” after its place of invention, is the first of its type to be implanted by doctors at an Alabama hospital. Only a handful of such devices have been implanted to date throughout the U.S.
“The mechanical device is similar to those used in adults, and was vital in Emily’s case as a bridge to transplantation,” Kirklin said. “It took over some of the work of her badly enlarged heart and enabled her to stay healthy enough to go through the transplant.”
Emily, the daughter of Robert and Rachel Raley, was born in Mobile, Alabama on Aug. 11, 2004. The child’s heart became weak last year, possibly from a viral infection. She had dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlargement of the heart. UAB pediatric cardiologist Bennett Pearce, M.D., said “We resuscitated her with ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, while we petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to use the Berlin Heart on a ‘compassionate use’ basis,” Pearce said. Although the device is regularly available in Europe, it does not yet have FDA approval for use in this country.”
Rachel Raley said her family is grateful to the UAB pediatric heart transplant team, the Alabama Organ Center that coordinated the transplant, “and especially to the family that allowed the tragedy of their child’s death to give life to another child through organ donation.”
Kirklin said, “The family of the donor child made a decision that helped save not only Emily’s life but also others, with the kidneys, liver and other tissue also having been donated. Organ donation is tough for a family to deal with in their time of grief, but it provides others the gift of a chance for a normal life. Hopefully, their example will affect other families’ decisions, too.”
In 2004, about 3.9% on the heart waiting list are under 5-years-old, but 9.3% of those who died waiting for a donor heart were younger than 5, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
For more information on organ donation, call 1-800-252-3677 or go to the Alabama Organ Center Web site, alabamaorgancenter.org/.