Italian toddler dies after transplant with heart ‘burned by frostbite’

A toddler in Italy who received a damaged donor heart has died, the family’s lawyer has said.

Two-year-old Domenico died shortly before 09:30 local time (08:30 GMT) on Saturday, Francesco Petruzzi told reporters. Monaldi Hospital, where he was being treated, said he had suffered a “sudden and irreversible worsening of his clinical condition”.

The heart given to Domenico during a transplant in late December was reportedly transported to the hospital in direct contact with dry ice, causing severe tissue damage.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident and six medics have been placed under formal investigation in a case which has sparked outrage in Italy.

Petruzzi has said the organ arrived “burned by frostbite” after being transported over 800km (490 miles) from Bolzano to Naples in an unsuitable container alongside the ice, without a thermometer to alert the medical team to the low temperature.

The two-year-old had been on life support in Naples for almost two months. On Wednesday, a panel of paediatric specialists concluded his condition was “not compatible” with another transplant.

Doctors had warned a prolonged use of the life support system might have compromised his lungs, liver and kidneys.

Petruzzi said on Wednesday the family wanted to see all the relevant medical records: “If the time for hope has ended, then the time for responsibility has begun.”

His mother Patrizia Mercolino had appealed to the Pope to help her son.

Italy’s Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said earlier this week that “we must absolutely clarify what happened”.

“We owe it to the child, to the family, but also to all Italians.”

“We have an excellent national health service, which has been able to handle and almost always resolve complex situations. So, I believe citizens should not lose faith.”