Baby survives eight-organ transplant

MIAMI -- Wearing a pink dress, a baby who received eight new organs in a single transplant operation cried and cooed yesterday as her mother held her and saw a brighter future for her daughter. "Her biggest feeling is happiness," said a doctor interpreting for Monica di Matteo, 39, mother of 7 1/2-month-old Alessia di Matteo of Genoa, Italy.

The operation took place seven weeks ago but was not announced until Thursday. Mother and baby appeared at a news conference yesterday, and di Matteo said she was "hoping for a normal life" for Alessia.

The baby was born with smooth muscle disorder, which prevented normal function of her stomach, intestines, and kidneys.

The condition is fatal if untreated.

She underwent an operation at Jackson Memorial Hospital in which she received a new liver, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, spleen, and two kidneys. The organs were all taken from the same 7-month-old donor and transplanted as a unit, said Dr. Andreas Tzakis, the lead surgeon.

Doctors at Jackson Memorial said the surgery was the world's first eight-organ transplant. But other officials have noted it is difficult to say whether the hospital had set a record because other facilities record the stomach and intestine as one organ.

The 12-hour operation Jan. 31 was performed in a space in the girl's abdomen about the size of three fists, and the organs transplanted weighed less than 11 ounces, Tzakis said. Alessia was 6 months old at the time.

She is expected to remain in Miami several more weeks for observation. The risks include infection and organ rejection.

"We are not at ease at all about the baby's condition, and we're going to be quite nervous for the first year," Tzakis said.