INTERNATIONAL ORGAN DONATION AWARENESS-GERMANY - Erfolgreiche Transplantation: Ein neues Herz für Annabell

Source: Sabine Atkins, Alex O'Loughlin Fans for Donate Life

Here's a wonderful story from Munich, Germany. Silke Roehl from the
German Alex O'Loughlin Fan Club sent it to me, and I translated it for
you and your readers.

The link takes you to the article and a lovely photo of Annabell, her
mother and her doctors http://www.abendzeitung.de/muenchen/180462

This is the 100th Time the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic of the LMU has

successfully transplanted a child's heart. The 14-month-old Anna Bell

enjoys good health after the operation.

A severe weakness of the heart muscle would have probably cost

Annabell her life - if she had not been rescued by the specialists of

the Munich pediatric cardiology through a complicated operation. "We

are overjoyed that she has survived the serious operation so well,"

says Professor Heinrich Netz, Head of the Department of Pediatric

Cardiology and Pediatric Intensive Care Clinic of the University of

Munich.

The Munich-based pediatric cardiology belongs with Berlin to the three

major transplant centers in Germany. Since the beginning of the

transplant program in 1988, numerous children in infancy were

successfully transplanted a new heart.

Little Annabell is now the 100th Patient, who received a new life by

the specialists of the LMU-University Hospital. For six months the

girl had to be treated in the ICU, waiting for a new donor heart. As

there are fewer organ donations available for children, the department

for pediatric cardiology, in cooperation with the Canadian Transplant

Centre Edmonton, recently developed a special technique which makes it

possible that also non-matching donor organs of a different blood type

can be transplanted into children. The agonizing wait for the young

patients and their families will be reduced significantly by this

procedure.

Also the Munich-based cardiologists made further progress in the

combined transplantation of multiple organs such as heart and kidney

or heart and liver.

It is not uncommon that organ transplants lead to life-threatening

conditions. However, little Annabell is doing very well. "Soon after

the operation she was back in her stroller and chewed with relish on

her breakfast pretzel," smiles Professor Netz.