Four-month-old Girl Receives Heart Transplant

A four-month-old girl who suffered from heart failure underwent a successful transplant at the Children’s Hospital on Friday night, with an organ that was donated and delivered from the mainland.

The baby girl, Lai Tsz-hei, had been critically ill from dilated cardiomyopathy.

On Friday evening, authorities were notified by the National Health Commission that they might have found a heart for the baby from a child who had died in an accident.

Arrangements were immediately made to transport the organ across the border. It was not disclosed which part of the mainland the organ was from.

Surgery began on Friday evening and was completed in the early hours of Saturday.

The girl is now recovering in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Simon Tang, Cluster Services Director at the Hospital Authority, said the arrangement was the first of its kind, and that the heart was the smallest ever implanted in Hong Kong’s medical history.

“We all understand that, in order to accomplish this task, it is not easy at all, because it is very difficult to identify a suitable heart to be transplanted into a four-month-old girl in Hong Kong,” he said.

“That’s why, out of good will, the National Health Commission used its robust mechanism and helped to identify the right organ for our four-month-old child, and we should be grateful for that.”

Tang also thanked the mainland authorities, as well as various SAR government departments, including customs, immigration, the police and the fire services, for facilitating the transplant.

He stressed that the delivery of the organ from the mainland to Hong Kong was done in accordance with laws on both sides.

Lee Tsz-leung, chief executive of the Children’s Hospital, said the parents of the baby girl expressed thanks to the donor’s family for giving their daughter a lifeline, and to those who had sent well-wishes.