Breaking World Record! TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital Completes "Dual Artificial Heart + Transplant" for 5-Year-Old Child with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Xiao Ni, a five-year-old from Jiangsu Province who weighs only 12.2 kilograms, was brought to the brink of death by restrictive cardiomyopathy—a condition with an incidence rate of just 3 in 100,000. At this critical moment, a medical team led by Professor Liu Xiaocheng from TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital, in collaboration with Nanjing Children’s Hospital, successfully saved her life by adopting an innovative treatment plan: "dual artificial heart implantation + heart transplant." This groundbreaking procedure also set a new global record for the lowest weight in surgeries of its kind.

In restrictive cardiomyopathy, the ventricles are smaller than normal. Xiao Ni was not only young and underweight but also severely underdeveloped, causing her heart chambers to be far smaller than those of a typical child and posing a significant challenge for artificial heart implantation. What made the situation even more complicated was that Xiao Ni had developed symptoms of simultaneous left and right heart failure. To restore balance between the left and right heart blood flow, two artificial hearts had to be implanted—a feat never before achieved successfully in such a young, low-weight patient worldwide.

To solve this problem, Professor Liu Xiaocheng led his team to collaborate closely with TEDA enterprise ROCOR MEDICAL Technology Co., Ltd. on customized modifications for the new-generation “Rocket Heart.” Eventually, they successfully developed a child-specific fully magnetically levitated ventricular assist device with a single pump weighing only 69 grams. They also reduced the outer diameter of the suture ring from 29 millimeters to 22.4 millimeters, cutting its weight from 6.4 grams to 1.17 grams. This mini artificial heart not only perfectly fits Xiao Ni’s exceptionally small heart cavity but also boasts the advantages of low hemolysis and high biocompatibility. It not only resolves the challenge of balancing dual-heart blood flow but also significantly reduces the risk of thrombosis.After more than 70 days of multidisciplinary collaboration and treatment, Xiao Ni's vital signs stabilized, and she was discharged from the hospital fully recovered. The surgery achieved a global breakthrough—transitioning from the Berlin external artificial heart's auxiliary circulation, which relies on external support, to the fully implanted auxiliary circulation system that is internally compatible. This milestone signifies that China has advanced to the forefront of the world in the research and development of pediatric artificial hearts and in the field of complex cardiac surgery.