THE ability of organs to repair themselves was highlighted this week by the story of Hannah Clark, the first person to be given an extra heart and then have it removed after her own heart recovered.
When Hannah was 2 years old her heart was failing and she received the second one from a 5-month-old donor. Supported by the donated organ, Hannah鈥檚 own heart gradually recovered, but the immunosuppressive drugs she was taking caused her to develop cancer. When she was 12, her surgeons, led by of Imperial College London, therefore removed the second heart (). She is now off the drugs and healthy.
A quarter of people with cardiomyopathies die waiting for a suitable donor. The surgeons say these patients might temporarily be given hearts from very young donors, which are too small to be used as full replacements.
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鈥淎 quarter of patients with cardiomyopathies die while waiting for a suitable donor鈥�