Two children on ECMO at the Heart Institute need urgent transplantation.

According to ТСН: In Kyiv, at the pediatric intensive care unit of the Heart Institute, two children are currently in extremely critical condition. Both patients are connected to the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) system and need heart transplants.

Condition of the children

Cardiac surgeon and director of the Heart Institute Boris Todurov reported that a girl, who is already on the waiting list for a heart transplant, is in the intensive care unit, as well as a boy with severe heart failure who is also waiting for a donor organ.

Todurov emphasized that both children are on ECMO — a machine that temporarily replaces the function of the heart and lungs and is used in critical cases as a 'bridge' to transplantation.

Call for help

The cardiac surgeon called on transplant coordinators and the Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination to urgently participate in resolving this situation.

“Good day, we are at the Heart Institute, today is December 12, morning, in the pediatric intensive care unit, two children on ECMO. A girl who is waiting for a heart transplant, and a boy with heart failure, who is also on the waiting list. I ask for the attention of all transplant coordinators and our Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination. Please see if there is a way we can help these children together.”

At the Heart Institute, it is noted that the condition of the children remains critical, and the search for donor organs is becoming critically necessary in the shortest possible time.

Unique operation in Lviv

Recall that earlier there were reports that in Lviv, doctors carried out a unique operation involving double heart transplantation. A 20-year-old patient survived two consecutive transplants.

In the current situation, the importance of timely assistance and access to donor organs cannot be overestimated. Efforts together with Ukrainian medical professionals could change the lives of two young patients in urgent need of a transplant. The situation at the Heart Institute also underscores the importance of developing transplantology in Ukraine and the necessity of creating a system that would ensure timely access to donor organs.