The first pediatric partial heart transplant in Texas was performed June 23 at the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease at Dell Children’s Medical Center, in partnership with UT Health Austin.

The surgery was performed on 11-month-old Elias Robinson-Rodriquez, who was born with a congenital heart defect condition. Robinson-Rodriquez’s valve between the lower left heart chamber and the main artery did not open fully, reducing blood flow from the heart and the rest of the body, according to a news release from Dell Children's Medical Center and UT Health Austin.

The 11-hour surgery used valves from a donor heart that was not otherwise able to be used as a complete transplant and will grow with Robinson-Rodriquez over time.
This was the seventh known pediatric partial heart transplant in the world, and only three other institutions in the United States have performed the transplant in the past including Duke University, Columbia University and Medical University of South Carolina. (Courtesy Dell Children's Medical Center)
This was the seventh known pediatric partial heart transplant in the world, and only three other institutions in the United States have performed the transplant in the past, including Duke University, Columbia University and Medical University of South Carolina. (Courtesy Dell Children's Medical Center)
This was Robinson-Rodriquez’s third open heart surgery, and the 11-month-old is showing improvement since June 23, according to Dell Children’s.

“We are thrilled with Elias’ progress, and we are hopeful this will eliminate the need for future surgeries,” said Chesney Castleberry, medical director of the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant Program and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Dell Med, in a news release.

The heart transplant team at Dell Children’s is led by Castleberry and Carlos Mery, surgical director of the Heart Transplant Program at Dell Children’s and associate professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery and Perioperative Care at Dell Med. The team includes Charles Fraser Jr., a pediatric heart surgeon and head of the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease at Dell Children’s.


This was the seventh known pediatric partial heart transplant in the world, and only three other institutions in the United States have performed the transplant in the past, including Duke University, Columbia University and Medical University of South Carolina, according to the news release.