California / IN BRIEF : LOMA LINDA : Heart Recipient, 2, in Critical Condition

Two days after receiving a heart transplant, 2-year-old Jason Janette remained in critical condition, although his surgeon said a slight improvement in his lungs raises hope that Jason could soon breathe again without artificial support. Dr. Anees Razzouk, the boy’s surgeon at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said Jason’s new heart is pumping efficiently. But he said the lungs will not work because they are badly congested with fluid, caused by the failure of his original heart and the nine days he spent on a heart-lung machine before the transplant Saturday night. Razzouk said he was encouraged by chest X-rays that showed some of the air sacks in Jason’s lungs had cleared. But Razzouk said Jason, who remains heavily sedated and attached to a ventilator and lung machine, still faces a tough battle to survive. A week ago, Jason was flown from Hawaii to Orange County on a Coast Guard cargo plane with a nine-member medical team from Childrens Hospital of Orange County. He stayed at that hospital until a donor heart was found Saturday and he was moved to Loma Linda for the surgery, which took 5 1/2 hours.