Suregons in Bergamo on Tuesday
carried out the first lung transplant from a living donor, as a
father gave part of the organ to his son, sources said
Wednesday.
The landmark procedures was carried out at the Giovanni XXIII
hospital in the city north of Milan.
A 30-year-old man donated part of a lung to his 5-year-old son,
who is affected by thalassaemia.
It was precisely because of this disease that the father had
already donated marrow to the little boy.
But this donation caused a reaction, the so-called
transplantation disease against the host, whereby the
transplanted cells attack the recipient's organs.
In this case, the rejection had caused irreversible lung damage
to the little boy.
Father and son are hospitalised in a reserved prognosis but the
doctors are confident they will make a good recovery.
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