Baby in Portugal becomes youngest in country to receive heart transplant

A 70-day-old baby who was born with a severe heart diseases recently underwent a heart transplant at Lisbon's Santa Marta Hospital, becoming the youngest baby in Portugal to receive this intervention.

The baby, which was born premature and was hospitalised since birth, had to receive a heart transplant due to cardiomyopathy, which had been detected during pregnancy, Lusa News Agency reported Saturday.

The doctor responsible for cardiothoracic surgery at Santa Marta Hospital, Jose Fragata, told Lusa the baby was transferred to his health unit on request by a hospital in Porto, northern Portugal, where the baby was from.

The Santa Marta Hospital was pioneer in placing an artificial heart device in Portugal, which allows the patient to be kept alive while waiting for the life-saving heart transplant, according to Lusa.

This device was placed in a 3-month-and-a-half old baby in 2013, the youngest baby at the time to have received a heart transplant. Endit