Girl Lives Without Heart for 4 Months

[Regina]

It’s long been believed that the heart is vital to life. Yet D’Zhana Simmons proved this notion wrong for nearly four months. Simmons, a 14 year old from South Carolina lived for 114 days without a natural heart. Simmons had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart to become enlarged and weak. These changes cause the heart to pump blood irregularly.

Simmons initially received a heart transplant in July at Holtz Children’s hospital, but emergency surgery was performed to remove the heart two days later. The transplanted heart was not functioning properly and risked damage to Simmons. With her transplanted heart removed, a device manufactured by Thoratec Corp was implanted in Simmons.

The teenager stayed in a Miami hospital for four months, sustained by the custom built blood pumping device that acted like a heart while she waited for a heart transplant. Substitute heart chambers were made with special fabric. During this time Simmons lived day to day, not knowing if the device would malfunction. This was the first case in which a device has been used to in a long wait for a transplant. A second transplant took place successfully on October 29, and Simmons was released from the hospital this week.

Aparna Atluru

fantastic.