Baby With Undeveloped Brain Clings to Life at Loma Linda

A baby with a fatal birth defect who was maintained on a respirator for a week to preserve his organs for transplant clung to life Friday without life support, officials said.

The boy, born with most of his brain and skull missing, was taken off the respirator Thursday at Loma Linda University Medical Center after he failed to show signs of brain death that the hospital requires before taking organs for transplant.

“Baby D continues to breathe on his own and is being kept comfortable,” said spokeswoman Anita Rockwell.

Meanwhile, another infant with the same condition being kept alive in the Loma Linda organ donor program began to show signs of impending brain death Friday.

The girl is the fifth anencephalic infant delivered into Loma Linda’s donor program. The first was stillborn, and the second met criteria for brain death, but a suitable recipient for his organs could not be found before the organs deteriorated.

The other two never met the hospital’s criteria.

Babies with the defect called anencephaly usually die within hours or days of being taken off life-support systems, Rockwell said.

Loma Linda developed the first medical guidelines in the United States for using life-support equipment to preserve anencephalics’ hearts and other organs for transplant.