In a historic medical milestone for Poland, doctors at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze successfully performed the country’s first-ever heart transplant on such a young patient. Seven-week-old Gabrysia, born with a highly complex congenital heart defect, received a new heart, giving her a second chance at life.
Gabrysia’s condition was identified during prenatal exams, revealing severe abnormalities in the structure of her heart and blood vessels. Surgical correction was deemed impossible, leaving heart transplantation as her only hope. After weeks of careful monitoring, the medical team decided on an urgent transplant. In the summer, a suitable donor heart became available.
The intricate operation, led by Dr. Joanna Śliwka, Dr. Szymon Pawlak, and Dr. Monika Żurek, involved not only a heart transplant but also the reconstruction of Gabrysia’s pulmonary and systemic veins. Remarkably, the surgeons used the donor’s blood vessels rather than synthetic materials to ensure better integration with Gabrysia’s body. Weighing just 4.3 kg on the day of surgery, the infant’s heart immediately began functioning without complications.
Following weeks of recovery, Gabrysia was discharged and is now under the care of the center’s pediatric transplant clinic, with Dr. Arkadiusz Wierzyk overseeing her progress. Her recovery includes routine assessments of the transplanted heart and medication adjustments to ensure her continued well-being.
Heart transplants in infants are rare, and Gabrysia’s case marks an extraordinary achievement. In Poland, only a handful of such operations have been performed in children under one year old, making Gabrysia’s transplant a groundbreaking success in pediatric cardiac surgery.