每日跟讀#638: Doctors bring woman back to life 50 days after heart stops beating

A 38-year-old woman, surnamed Chen, was stung by a bee last year while holidaying in Japan. On returning to Taiwan Chen developed a fever in addition to experiencing painful itching. She went to see a doctor and an electrocardiogram test showed up abnormalities. Chen then suffered a heart failure and eventually her heart stopped beating altogether. All her medical team could do was to wait for a heart transplant, however one day quickly turned into 50 days, and for more than a month the Grim Reaper was knocking on the door.

三十八歲的陳小姐去年十月到日本旅遊，不慎被蜜蜂螫咬，返台後出現發燒、患處痛癢，就醫後還發現心電圖異常、心臟衰竭，最後突然停止跳動，只能等待心臟移植，但一等就是五十天，一個多月來都和死神拔河。

On Friday, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) held a news conference to celebrate a successful heart transplant operation. Chen’s medical team said they put her on extracorporeal life support and a biventricular assist device, and placed Chen on the hospital’s waiting list for a heart transplant. However while waiting for the transplant several complications occurred including acute renal failure and internal bleeding, so that continuous blood transfusions were needed to increase the number of human leukocyte antigen antibodies found within Chen’s blood. These additional complications greatly increased the probability that a donor heart would be rejected.

台大醫院上週五發表這項去敏化心臟移植記者會，醫療團隊指出，當時替陳小姐裝上葉克膜、放置雙心室輔助器，在台大醫院內等待心臟移植，但因等待期間併發急性腎衰竭、瀰漫性出血等狀況，並因持續輸血誘發大量白血球抗體，導致移植的排斥失敗率大增。

Director of NTUH Cardiovascular Center Chen Yi-hsiang said it is likely that the bee sting caused an extreme allergic reaction which lead to myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). During the treatment process, there were four opportunities to carry out a heart transplant, however none of the candidates matched Chen’s human leukocyte antigens. In order to increase the chances of success, the hospital’s organ transplant team developed a “desensitization” course of treatment.

台大醫院心血管中心主任陳益祥說，根據病史來看，陳小姐的確有可能是因蜜蜂叮咬導致過敏反應產生的心肌炎，雖然她有四次移植機會，但比對白血球抗體後發現不合適，為提高心臟移植的成功率，移植團隊決定訂定去敏治療計畫。

Chen Yi-hsiang says that after carrying out the desensitization treatment, and following a wait of 50 days since Chen’s heart stopped beating, at the end of last year the team successfully transplanted a new heart into her body.

Chen Yi-hsiang says Chen’s new heart is functioning well and shows no signs of rejection, adding that the extremely long waiting time of 50 days has set a new record for heart transplants in Taiwan.

陳益祥說，經過去敏化後，陳小姐在心跳停止後五十天，去年底成功接受心臟移植，至今心臟功能都正常、沒有排斥現象；而經歷這麼長時間等待，陳益祥說，這應是國內首例。

NTUH has been performing cross-matched heart transplants since 2010 and to date have achieved over 50 successful transplants using this method. At the news conference, convener of NTUH Organ Transplant Team Chou Nai-kuan said we should give thanks to those members of the public who are willing to donate organs, which give patients the chance to a second life.

台大醫院自二○一○年起成功處理交叉試驗陽性的心臟移植後，至今累積超過五十多例經驗。台大醫院器官勸募小組召集人周迺寬說，要感謝許多捨得捐贈器官的民眾，讓更多人有機會接受移植、有新的生命。

According to data from the Taiwan Organ Donor Registry and Sharing Center, there are currently 180 people on the waiting list for a heart transplant in Taiwan, while kidney transplants are most in need, with as many as 7,666 people currently waiting in line for a new kidney.

根據器捐中心統計，目前仍有一百八十人仍在等待心臟移植，而最多人等待的是腎臟，高達七千六百六十六人。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/07/16/2003718718