A 7-year-old Chinese boy suffering from end-stage heart failure has become the world’s youngest patient to receive a magnetically levitated biventricular assist device. Co-developed by a Shenzhen-based company, the device is the smallest and lightest artificial heart on the market.
The surgery, conducted earlier in April at the Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, marks a breakthrough that could transform pediatric cardiac care globally, doctors said on April 15.
The boy going by the pseudonym Junjun received the newly developed heart, which weighing just 45 grams — 50% lighter compared to existing magnetic levitation artificial heart on the market — and measuring 2.9 cm in diameter.
Junjun was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2024 and later suffered severe cardiogenic shock. Finding it difficult to find a matching donor heart, doctors turned to a homegrown artificial heart.
A team led by cardiac surgeon Dong Nianguo performed the five-hour implantation operation. Junjun began breathing on his own the next day, doctors said.
Pediatric heart failure remains a global medical challenge. In China, about 40,000 children with severe heart failure are hospitalized each year, and 7% to 10% urgently require heart transplants. However, fewer than 100 pediatric transplants are performed annually due to a chronic shortage of donor hearts.
Artificial hearts, also called ventricular assist devices, can temporarily support cardiac function, but existing models either cause damage to the blood vessels or are designed primarily for adults.
The hospital partnered with Shenzhen Core Medical Technology Co. Ltd. in 2021 to develop the third-generation magnetically levitated device, which boasts advantages such as low energy consumption, extended battery life, improved stability for emergency transfers, and precise control of rotational speed, which is adjustable in real time to meet patients’ circulatory needs.