Bali Today – Ubud, July 26, 2025
By Fitriani, Bali Today
In a medical first that blurs the line between life and death, Duke University surgeons restarted a clinically dead infant’s heart for transplantation – six minutes after it stopped beating. The successfully transplanted organ now beats in another baby’s chest, raising both hope and ethical firestorms.
The Miracle Procedure
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How? Using a custom-built “heart in a box” system (mini oxygenator + centrifugal pump) never before scaled for infants
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Why? Standard organ preservation systems are too large for baby hearts
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The Twist: Surgeons bypassed ethical landmines by only reviving the heart – not the donor’s brain or circulation
“Think of it as jumpstarting a car battery,” lead surgeon Dr. Jacob Schroder told NEJM. “The engine runs, but the driver’s long gone.”
The Ethical Minefield
While three babies now live with these “reanimated” hearts, critics slam the practice as “medical necromancy”:
✓ “Are we playing God?” – Reviving organs after death declaration
✓ The “Butterfly Effect” – Could this pressure families to donate?
✓ Black Mirror Warning – What happens when this tech scales to adults?
The Breakthrough No One’s Talking About
The real innovation? A proprietary preservation fluid that:
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Kept donor hearts viable for hours outside the body
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Showed zero rejection in recipients after 6+ months
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Could end transplant waiting lists… if ethics boards agree
The Big Question:
Is restarting dead hearts medical progress – or the start of a dystopian organ trade?
