Domino Heart Valve Transplant in Children With Congenital Valve Disease

David KalfaPediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Nicklaus Children's Hospital/FIU

“The living valves used have growth potential, which means patients may not require multiple re-operations down the road. This is a game-changer for these children.”

David KalfaPediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Nicklaus Children's Hospital/FIU

“We still don't have many good options in terms of heart valve replacement for children. Today, we can use preserved, non-living tissue valves that from animals. But these do not last long. They degenerate and stop working. Another challenge is that, sometimes, there's no valve small enough. The smallest valve we have at our disposal is 15 millimeters. Sometimes the place we need to put the valve is 6 or 7 mm. Lastly, those replacement valves can't grow with the baby or child. They outgrow the valve, and each time we need to replace it involves another open heart surgery.”

David KalfaPediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Nicklaus Children's Hospital/FIU

“Making sure that these valves were the right valves for the right children was extremely important. We are assessing the valves in terms of function; we don't want any leakage or obstruction.”