Youngest in Nation to Have Transplant : Girl With New Heart, Lungs Listed as Critical

A 9-year-old girl Wednesday became the nation’s youngest person to receive a new heart and lungs, three weeks after she offered to donate her healthy organs if the search for a donor failed.

Kimberly Fuller of Yukon, Okla., was in intensive care, in critical but stable condition after 5 1/2 hours of surgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

That condition is considered normal following transplant surgery, said hospital spokeswoman Sue Cardillo.

“The operation went smoothly with no unanticipated problems,” Cardillo said. “She’ll be watched closely for the next 48 hours for any malfunctions or any rejection.”

Her parents, David and Sandra Fuller, were at her bedside before and after the operation, Cardillo said.

“Kimberly’s spirits were very good prior to surgery. Her parents said she was a little scared but that she felt good about it. She was bright and alert. She understood what was happening,” she said.

Kimberly suffered a rare degenerative condition that was destroying her heart and lungs, according to her mother. Her condition had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks.

Heading the surgical team was Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed Pittsburgh’s first implant of a Jarvik-7 artificial heart into a Pennsylvania factory worker last month.

Cardillo said the identity and location of the donor were not released, but that the donor organs were brought by chartered jet from more than 1,000 miles away.

The 1 1/2-year search for a heart and lungs of compatible size and blood type had been hampered by the child’s 35-pound size, according to hospital spokeswoman Lynn McMahon.

Kimberly told a news conference on Oct. 30, two days after arriving at Children’s Hospital, that she would gladly donate her own organs for transplantation if a suitable heart and lungs were not located in time.

“If I don’t get the transplant, then I’d like to donate my organs to another child,” the brown-eyed blonde said, clutching a teddy bear.

Kimberly, who appears on a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poster of children awaiting transplants, attended school part time until her health began to decline rapidly two weeks ago, according to her mother.

She tired easily and suffered severe headaches because of a buildup of carbon dioxide in her blood, Mrs. Fuller, 34, said. She also hadn’t been able to gain any weight despite a high-carbohydrate diet.

Kimberly is the second patient to undergo the double transplant at Children’s Hospital. The hospital performed the operation on Mary Grantz, 12, of Farrell, Pa., last July 3, but she died two days later when her new heart failed.