Transplant patient Kieran Sandwell comes face-to-face with his own HEART after donating it


  • Kieran Sandwell, 45, was born with a form of congenital heart disease
  • He had a heart attack at the age of 13 and suffered heart failure at 35
  • Underwent a heart transplant and has since been able to run marathons
  • Met with Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan who has been using it for research

Kate Pickles For Mailonline

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A transplant patient who donated his old heart for research has came face-to-face with the organ seven years after surgery.

Kieran Sandwell, 45, was speechless by the sight of his old organ, but happy it had been helpful for medical research.

He had been born with a form of congenital heart disease called transposition of the great arteries (TGA) where the main arteries of the heart are ‘plumbed’ the wrong way around.

After having a heart attack at the young age of 13 he has been a patient at Royal Brompton Hospital in London for the last 20 years.

Mr Sandwell also suffered a stroke at 21 and developed severe heart failure at 35 leaving the only remaining option being a heart transplant.

The computer analyst decided to donate his old heart back to the hospital so it could help others at risk of sudden cardiac death.

Kieran Sandwell, 45, looks at his old heart which he donated to medical research after having a transplant when his failed

‘It was not what I expected at all,’ said Mr Sandwell, from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.

‘Leading up to the day I had thought it would be easy, but when they brought the heart out I was speechless. I had goosebumps.

‘One of the things that struck me most was the sheer size of the heart.

‘Hearts are normally the size of a fist, but mine was almost triple this. I had been warned it would be big, but nothing can prepare you for that.

‘It looked so big that it could only just have fitted in my chest. I was amazed at the size of it.

‘I thought I’d be quite calm but when they brought it out I froze. It was a very strange experience.’

The serious heart defect TGA is usually treated surgically in the first days of life and requires lifelong monitoring by cardiologists.

WHAT IS TGA? 

Transposition of the great arteries (TGA is a condition where that the two main blood vessels leaving the heart, the pulmonary artery (which takes blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen) and the aorta (which takes blood from the heart to the body) are swapped over.

The pulmonary artery is joined to the left pumping chamber (ventricle) and the aorta to the right pumping chamber (ventricle).

This means that blood flows to the lungs and picks up oxygen but is then pumped back to the lungs instead of travelling around the body. Blood flowing round the body is unable to reach the lungs to pick up oxygen and continues circulating.

Transposition of the great arteries is a form of congenital heart disease – a term used to describe a problem with the heart’s structure and function due to abnormal development before birth.

Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital 

Mr Sandwell had a type of surgery called the ‘Mustard procedure’ at the age of three to repair this.

He had the heart transplant in 2009 and got back in touch with Brompton cardiologist Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan on the seventh anniversary of the transplant to arrange the rare viewing.

‘Seeing my heart brought back a lot of bad memories – for the first time in a long time, I felt sad,’ he said.

‘It made me reflect on just how ill I had been before my transplant.

‘I had always wanted to donate the heart, and I wanted it to go to Royal Brompton, because I thought it must be of some use to them, even for education.

‘I was texting Sonya once I came round to check that she had received it.

‘Thinking about all the research that has been done, and thinking how that is going to improve the outcomes for patients who are born with heart conditions, is amazing.’

Since the transplant Mr Sandwell has twice run the London Marathon and sky-dived from 10,000ft.

‘I’m looking after my donor’s heart and putting that to good use, while I have given my own heart to the Brompton and they are making good use of it,’ he said.

‘It’s like recycling.’

Transplant patient Kieran Sandwell, 45 with Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan take a look at his old heart

Dr Babu-Narayan used the heart for her research to investigate whether the risk of sudden heart failure can be predicted in adults born with congenital heart disease.

She said: ‘We were able to confirm that the MRI he had before his transplant had accurately identified scars in his heart, caused by previous surgery, and damage to his heart as a result of his condition.

‘My research explored whether this scarring can be used to decide if a patient is at risk of serious and life-threatening heart rhythm disturbances and how best to treat them.

‘Thanks to Kieran’s help, we are confident that we can use imaging to see and assess the scarring.

‘This kind of imaging will now be added to the care of adult patients with congenital heart disease, so Kieran’s heart has made a real difference to other patients with the condition.’ 

 

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