Heart transplantation in children
We have been performing heart transplants in children since 1998. The Erasmus MC Transplantation Institute is the only center in the Netherlands that performs this procedure in children. Since then, 70 successful heart transplants have been performed, with a good outcome. Since 2007 we have also been able to help the sickest children with a supporting heart. So that they too have a chance of waiting for a suitable donor organ. More than half of the children on the waiting list for a heart transplant are admitted (long-term) to the Intensive Care Unit waiting for a suitable donor heart. After transplantation, the children are able to return to participating in most activities normal for their age.
We work closely with a large group of pediatricians who are involved in various aspects of treatment. The pediatric cardiology departments, pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric thoracic center and thoracic surgeons have a central role in this. We also work closely with the anesthesiologists and cardiologists of the adult heart transplant program. We know how to find other specialists in the field of organ transplantation easily in order to improve the care for our children.
Kidney transplantation in children
In the Netherlands, about 25 children a year reach end-stage renal failure. At that moment, dialysis or a kidney transplant is necessary. In the Sophia Children's Hospital, children from the entire region of South-West Netherlands come for these treatments. Children from the Leiden and Utrecht region are also referred to our hospital for a kidney transplant. We perform about 10 kidney transplants per year. This is possible from the age of 1 year. Most of these transplants we perform with a kidney donated by a living donor. Besides our standard transplants, we also offer several specific transplants. Namely the small KINT program (children < 4 years), the blood group incompatibility program and the crossover program. In this way we can keep the time a child has to undergo dialysis as short as possible. Or even prevent it altogether.
More information is available on our websites (only available in Dutch):
