Overview

• The JAMA case series reports outcomes for 19 patients who underwent partial heart transplantation at Duke from 2022 to 2024 with 11 to 153 weeks of follow-up.
• All transplanted valves functioned and showed growth over time, with no reoperations for valve failure and few complications attributed to surgery or immunosuppression.
• The procedure was applied across a range of pediatric diagnoses and ages, indicating potential versatility beyond a single condition.
• An accompanying editorial by Boston Children’s Kevin Daly emphasizes the need to determine whether growth benefits justify lifelong immunosuppression and calls for coordinated, long-term data collection across centers.
• One child who discontinued anti-rejection drugs because of an infection maintained a growing, functioning valve, as parallel efforts in tissue-engineered valves progress, including a GrOwnValve–Charité implant reported this year.