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2008-11-20 08:11:54
By RASHA MADKOUR, Associated Press Writer Rasha Madkour, Associated Press
Writer Wed Nov 19, 4:29 pm ET
MIAMI D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when
she had no heart beating in her chest. "But I know that I really was here," the
14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."
As she was being released Wednesday from a Miami hospital, the shy teen seemed
in awe of what she's endured. Since July, she's had two heart transplants and
survived with artificial heart pumps but no heart for four months between
the transplants.
Last spring D'Zhana and her parents learned she had an enlarged heart that was
too weak to sufficiently pump blood. They traveled from their home in Clinton,
S.C. to Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami for a heart transplant.
But her new heart didn't work properly and could have ruptured so surgeons
removed it two days later.
And they did something unusual, especially for a young patient: They replaced
the heart with a pair of artificial pumping devices that kept blood flowing
through her body until she could have a second transplant.
Dr. Peter Wearden, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Children's Hospital of
Pittsburgh who works with the kind of pumps used in this case, said what the
Miami medical team managed to do "is a big deal."
"For (more than) 100 days, there was no heart in this girl's body? That is
pretty amazing," Wearden said.
The pumps, ventricular assist devices, are typically used with a heart still in
place to help the chambers circulate blood. With D'Zhana's heart removed,
doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital crafted substitute heart chambers using a
fabric and connected these to the two pumps.
Although artificial hearts have been approved for adults, none has been
federally approved for use in children. In general, there are fewer options for
pediatric patients. That's because it's rarer for them to have these
life-threatening conditions, so companies don't invest as much into technology
that could help them, said Dr. Marco Ricci, director of pediatric cardiac
surgery at the University of Miami.
He said this case demonstrates that doctors now have one more option.
"In the past, this situation could have been lethal," Ricci said.
And it nearly was. During the almost four months between her two transplants,
D'Zhana wasn't able to breathe on her own half the time. She also had kidney
and liver failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Taking a short stroll when she felt up for it required the help of four
people, at least one of whom would steer the photocopier-sized machine that was
the external part of the pumping devices.
When D'Zhana was stable enough for another operation, doctors did the second
transplant on Oct. 29.
"I truly believe it's a miracle," said her mother, Twolla Anderson.
D'Zhana said now she's grateful for small things: She'll see her five siblings
soon, and she can spend time outdoors.
"I'm glad I can walk without the machine," she said, her turquoise princess top
covering most of the scars on her chest. After thanking the surgeons for
helping her, D'Zhana began weeping.
Doctors say she'll be able to do most things that teens do, like attending
school and going out with friends. She will be on lifelong medication to keep
her body from rejecting the donated heart, and there's a 50-50 chance she'll
need another transplant before she turns 30.
For now, though, D'Zhana is looking forward to celebrating another milestone.
On Saturday, she turns 15 and plans to spend the day riding in a boat off
Miami's coast.