To decide whether the child, who has been in critical condition for two months following a damaged heart transplant, should undergo a new organ implant, Monaldi Hospital is consulting with experts from across Italy.
The clinical evaluation by in-house specialists was scheduled for today, then postponed to tomorrow, and finally scheduled for Wednesday. However, the latest development is the announcement this evening that senior healthcare professionals from other regions will be involved. Pending Wednesday, the child remains on the transplant list.
«I won't give up, I won't lose hope», says mother Patrizia who today, like every day, went to visit her "little warrior" and to receive news from the doctors.
The news, dire, came yesterday from the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome, which was consulted for a consultation. According to the city's pediatric hospital, the child is not eligible for a second transplant due to complications that arose after nearly two months of survival on a ventilator and extracorporeal circulation machine. Cerebral hemorrhage, an uncontrolled infection, and renal, pulmonary, and liver failure are factors that pose a high risk of mortality in the event of a second transplant, also due to immunosuppressive therapies against rejection.
On the other hand, barring a miracle, these conditions are destined to worsen over time, and without a functioning heart, the child's fate appears sealed. In parallel with the family's agonizing wait, the investigation by the Naples prosecutor's office (coordinated by deputy Antonio Ricci, prosecutor Giuseppe Tittaferrante) continues. So far, six health workers, including doctors and paramedics from Monaldi Hospital, have been placed under investigation for suspected negligent injury. The prosecutors are focusing on everything that happened on December 23, when the team from the Neapolitan hospital traveled to Bolzano to remove the heart that was implanted in the young patient that afternoon, but was immediately found to be nonfunctional.
According to the family, the organ was "burned" during transport due to the use of dry ice instead of traditional ice, and no one noticed the damage to the heart before the surgery. The investigation is complex, both because of the nearly two months that have passed since the event and because it involves multiple parties, expertise, and responsibilities.
(Unioneonline)
