Haishi, outside the intensive care unit of Ruiqi Hospital.
Wu Juan, wearing a mask and isolation gown, waited anxiously outside the door.
At 10:28, the ICU door opened. The little girl with an oxygen tube and a monitor was lying on the bed and was pushed out by several nurses.
She rushed forward and called softly, choking, "Beibei, Beibei..."
Hearing a familiar voice, the sleeping little girl suddenly opened her eyes, her dark eyes staring closely at her mother, and was pushed into the isolation ward.
Wu Juan watched her daughter disappear into the ward, feeling anxious and confused. She saw the attending doctor standing at the door of the ICU, seemingly explaining something to the nurse.
She immediately rushed forward and asked with a sincere look: "Doctor Zhu, how is my daughter's condition?"
"She's only 3 years old, so don't let anything happen to her."
Dr. Zhu had a troubled expression on his face and was silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"I'm sorry, your daughter has congenital nephrotic syndrome and severe proteinuria. Currently, she can only infuse human albumin to maintain kidney function. This disease will develop into uremia in a short time and may require long-term dialysis."
"This is caused by congenital factors. The kidney itself develops malformations, but it is not a hereditary cause. It may be caused by medication during pregnancy or external factors. There is currently no good treatment and we can only maintain the status quo."
"If we want a radical cure, we can only wait for a kidney transplant."
These words were like a bolt from the blue, Wu Juan's eyes darkened and she almost fainted to the ground.
She shook her body and remembered that when she was pregnant, because it was not obvious at the beginning, she took some medicine, but then she stopped immediately when she found out she was pregnant. During the pregnancy test, no major problems were found, so she thought it was fine.
Unexpectedly, the consequences gradually became apparent after my daughter turned 2 years old.
Thinking that her unintentional mistake had caused such tragic consequences, she couldn't help but feel like a knife piercing her heart, and she was filled with regret.
Wu Juan asked eagerly: "Kidney transplant, let's do it. Do we have to wait in line? How long will it take?"
Dr. Zhu said thoughtfully: "Let's do HLA matching on her first and see if she can be matched."
"According to convention, children are given preferential treatment in organ transplantation. If organs with suitable matching types are available, they will be given priority to child patients. However, your daughter is too young and her body has not yet developed well. If it is an adult organ, it may not be the same size. Mismatch."
"And when it comes to finding a suitable child donor, it just depends on luck, and it may take several years."
Wu Juan almost cried: "Ah, what should I do?"
Dr. Zhu sighed: "Let's wait until we see the HLA matching results."
Wu Juan could only nodded with a confused look on her face: "Okay, doctor, I will listen to you."
A few days later, while waiting anxiously, Wu Juan received the HLA matching results.
"Unfortunately, there is currently no matching kidney, and your daughter is a hypersensitive immune patient. She has highly sensitizing antibodies in her body, and the probability of severe rejection is very high. It may be very difficult to obtain a suitable organ."
"Even if there is a suitable kidney, the effect after transplantation will be poor. And she is too young and in poor physical condition, and is not suitable for some conventional immune desensitization treatments."
The words Dr. Zhu said were like a basin of cold water mixed with crushed ice, pouring down all over my face.
Wu Juan was suddenly cold to the bone, her heart was ashen, and she trembled: "This, this, what can we do!"
A hint of intolerance flashed in Dr. Zhu's eyes, and he considered it for a moment before saying: "There is a way, which may be very risky, but it can ensure that your daughter will get the most suitable kidney within 3-5 months."
Wu Juan was like a drowning person grabbing a life-saving straw, her eyes were shining and she said: "What can I do?"
The sentence "the risk is very high" was subconsciously ignored by her.
"Sanqing Group has developed a technology called organ transplantation, which can use mini-pigs to provide organs that perfectly match the patient's genes. There is basically no acute immune rejection, and there is no need to wait for a long time. You don't even have to take immunosuppressive drugs after the transplant. .”
Dr. Zhu explained patiently and emphatically explained the risks to her.
"However, this is a clinical experiment and may have unknown risks. We cannot guarantee absolute safety."
"There are currently two methods for organ transplantation. One is to wait for several years to obtain free donated organs, and the other is to obtain the most suitable transplanted organ in just a few months, but the long-term risks are unknown."
"Both options, you have to consider them carefully before making a decision carefully."
Wu Juan held his hand tightly: "Thank you, doctor, I'll go back and discuss it with the father."
"Originally I thought it was hopeless, but now that there is a way, I must think about my children."
When she told her husband about it that night, he suddenly became excited.
"That's great. I've heard about Sanqing's organ transplantation. This matter has made a big fuss on the Internet. After a while, Sanqing's technology should be fine. We have to believe in it."
"One more thing, I heard that the clinical trials of Sanqing are all free, and the surgical and medical expenses are all covered. The child has been sick for more than a year, and we are not financially well-off. From all aspects, this can be considered a best choice."
"But, the doctor said the risk is also very high." Wu Juan still hesitated.
The husband waved his hand and said decisively: "The risk is the greatest if the child's illness continues like this."
"Do you really want to watch Beibei lying in the hospital bed and enduring dialysis for the past few years?"
"There are many people queuing up to wait for organs. Who knows if we are lucky enough to wait for a suitable organ."
"And didn't you listen to what the doctor said? Beibei's body is highly sensitive and has a strong immune rejection reaction. If someone else's organ is transplanted, the chance of acute rejection is very high. Once it happens, he may die within a few hours after the operation. "
"If this really happens, the consequences will be too serious. No matter how low the chance is, it will be 100% when it comes to Beibei. I don't dare to gamble."
"With Sanqing's transplanted organs, just like Beibei's own kidneys, at least such fatal incidents will not happen."
Wu Juan was finally moved by these words. She wiped her tears and agreed.
The next day, the couple came to the hospital. After Dr. Zhu's careful explanation, they completely dispelled their doubts and signed their names on the consent form.
From that day on, the whole family was undergoing treatment while waiting for the arrival of a kidney.
One month later, Beibei's condition worsened and she started extracorporeal dialysis treatment.
Four months later, I finally received two custom-made kidneys.
Ruiji Hospital urgently performed a kidney transplant for Beibei.
In order to reduce intraoperative bleeding and reduce surgical trauma to the child, the surgical team implemented a "2+2" parallel transplantation plan.
That is, the two lost kidneys are not removed directly, but two new kidneys are re-implanted for functional replacement.
After the operation, the child will have 4 kidneys at the same time.
When the new kidneys begin to function, the two original malformed, malformed kidneys will gradually shrink, eliminating the need for surgery and not affecting the child's normal life.
An adult's kidney is generally as big as a fist, and an average four-year-old child's kidney is about the size of an egg.
Beibei is only 3 and a half years old. Due to underdevelopment of his kidneys, his kidneys are only slightly larger than a quail egg, so there is enough room for transplantation.
The kidney itself is very small, and the blood vessels in the kidney are also very slender. Suturing the blood vessels is like embroidering on an egg, and the action must be extremely gentle.
At the same time, because it is a "2+2" surgical model, it is equivalent to rebuilding a piping system for the child to ensure the normal use of the new kidney, which is technically difficult.
After repeated detailed preoperative assessments, the surgical team finally successfully placed two healthy kidneys the size of eggs into the child's abdomen.
After careful separation and suturing, the intraoperative bleeding was only 40ml.
After 2 hours of intense concentration, the surgeon released the vascular clamp, and Beibei's new kidney quickly became red and full.
After a few seconds, the first drop of urine came out.
The team members all breathed a sigh of relief, and enthusiastic cheers instantly erupted in the operating room.
After the operation, Beibei recovered well and was able to get out of bed and walk the next day.
A week later, Wu Juan and her husband walked out of the hospital door, holding their daughter's little hand.
Both of them were filled with gratitude to Sanqing.
****
Beijing, Intensive Care Unit of the Inpatient Department of Anzhen Hospital.
The same scene happened here.
A one-and-a-half-year-old little girl lay quietly on the hospital bed, falling into a coma.
"Mengmeng, Mengmeng..." The grandfather standing by the bed called her name reluctantly and wiped the tears from his face with his wrinkled hands.
The mother gently adjusted the oxygen mask, leaned down tremblingly, and kissed Mengmeng's forehead. The people next to her burst into tears.
When she was 8 months old, the little girl was diagnosed with non-compaction cardiomyopathy and could suffer sudden heart failure or even sudden death at any time. Her only chance of survival was a heart transplant.
A heart transplant for such a young child?
The whole family was immediately plunged into a painful decision.
Later, at my mother's insistence, the family decided to give it a try after repeated discussions.
However, donors for heart transplants are already very scarce. The chest cavity of a one-and-a-half-year-old child is very small, so it is impossible to use an adult heart. Children's donor hearts are very scarce, and the chance of obtaining a suitable donor is extremely slim.
Half a year later, I saw that the child's condition was getting worse and worse, with severe heart failure, blood pressure plummeting, and difficulty breathing every day...
After waiting to no avail, the family members finally took the plunge and participated in Sanqing's clinical organ transplant experiment.
After four months of long waiting, the hope of life finally came from Kunming, more than 1,000 kilometers away.
Late that night, a miniature pig was airlifted to the capital and arrived at the hospital.
The cardiac director's team prepared for the operation overnight.
Early the next morning, Mengmeng was pushed into the operating room and the transplant operation began immediately.
At 7:32, Director Xinwai carefully began to peel the skin.
At 7:46, extracorporeal circulation was started.
At 7:55, the heart block was completed.
It then took 33 minutes to remove the failing heart.
At this time, it was found that the entire ventricle had become fibrotic, had no elasticity, and the heart beat very weakly.
At 8:48, the heart containing the cute gene was removed from the pig and implanted into her chest.
At 9:15, this life-saving heart started beating again.
At 10:30, the operation ended, which lasted nearly 4 hours.
Because the child is too young, weighing only 10 kilograms, his heart is not as big as an egg, and his blood vessels are too thin.
The doctor wore a microscope throughout the entire process and performed hundreds of stitches, each with a stitch length of no more than 1 millimeter.
Because children continue to grow, absorbable sutures are used in many areas.
In addition to suturing blood vessels, it is also very difficult to administer anesthesia for such a young child.
The whole body blood volume of a child is only about 1 liter, and the amount of anesthesia must be calculated accurately. A slight deviation will aggravate heart failure and cause medical accidents.
Fortunately, Anzhen Hospital is one of the best cardiac hospitals in the country. The doctors have rich experience in heart transplant surgeries, so they were able to successfully complete such a difficult surgery.
Even so, after the operation was completed and transferred to the ICU, Mengmeng also experienced difficult tests that ordinary people could not imagine.
First, he suffered from severe pulmonary hypertension, which prevented the heart from functioning normally after the heart transplant. It took a week of ECMO auxiliary treatment to gain valuable recovery time for the heart.
Then there was severe hypernatremia. The excess sodium in the body was removed through peritoneal dialysis, and the kidneys were allowed to rest for 3 days before they slowly recovered.
Fortunately, the transplanted hearts were a perfect match in terms of size and HLA antibodies.
There is no need to overcome other technical difficulties, such as the problem of cramming an overly large heart into a small body.
The latter is a common phenomenon for children as young as one or two years old.
Generally speaking, it is almost impossible to find a donor of the same age for surgery on a one-year-old child, and often only a heart source that is much larger than the own heart can be found.
A big problem when trying to fit a big heart into a small chest is that the chest is not deep enough to close the chest. Forcibly closing the chest will compress the heart.
You can only try to close the chest several times after the operation and put it back into the chest bit by bit.
In addition, the thickness of blood vessels in older children and babies is also seriously mismatched, and the small blood vessels need to be enlarged before they can be sutured together.
Not to mention concerns about immune rejection.
However, now that there is a heart transplanted using the patient's cells, the patient is equivalent to a direct replacement of an original heart, and immune rejection is no longer a problem.
The size of the heart and the thickness of the blood vessels also match perfectly, leaving only other physical problems caused by the original heart failure.
After repeated rescue efforts, the 1-year-old child finally miraculously defeated death and fortunately survived.
The country's first heart transplant even made it into the newspapers.
After the incident was reported by the media, it aroused heated discussions among netizens and became a hot search topic.
Netizens liked it one after another and cheered for the strong little angel.
"Great doctors are sincere and doctors are kind!"
"Wow, what a miracle of life. This kid will definitely be a legend in the future."
"I lament the child's tenacious vitality and desire to live. The doctor is really great. I hope the child can grow up safely and see this beautiful world."
"Fortunately, with Sanqing's implanted heart, we don't have to sacrifice another little angel."
"I have never been happy when I saw this kind of thing in the past, because I know that when a miracle of life happens, another angel will always leave, but this time is different, no one leaves, only the departure of a new life .”
"Well, let's just say, don't humans have any gratitude at all for the pigs who made sacrifices?"
"The pig is going to cry. Who is not a baby? Is my dedication so ignored?"
"Donated little piggy, may you have no pain in the next life and be reborn as a human being."
"Pig: Humans are too curly. I'd better be a little pig lying flat."
"My mother asked me where such a small heart came from, and I said it was donated by pigs. My mother said that our family would no longer eat pork in the second half of the year, and I became silent at that time."
"Humans don't thank pigs, they just take it for granted."
Amid the discussion among netizens, the clinical trial is progressing extremely smoothly.
In addition to pediatric patients who need heart and kidney transplants, more adult patients continue to join the experiment.
Among them, there are many foreign friends. (End of chapter)
