Riyadh Hospital: One Donor Heart Treats Two Children

Surgeons at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh have successfully treated two children using a single donor heart, in what is described as the first paediatric domino heart transplant of its kind in the Middle East and Europe. The coordinated procedures were carried out in mid-September 2026.

In a domino heart transplant, healthy cardiac tissues from the explanted heart of one recipient are reused to help a second patient, extending the benefit of one donated organ to more than one child.

The first patient, a 12-year-old with end-stage heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy, received the full donor heart. The child had spent around six weeks in hospital while awaiting a suitable donor before the transplant took place.

The second patient, a nine-year-old with severe aortic valve stenosis and regurgitation, underwent a Ross procedure. The medical team used the pulmonary valve and root taken from the explanted heart of the first child to reconstruct the pulmonary position, giving the second patient healthy living tissue.

Why it matters

For families in the Kingdom, the case highlights the growing capabilities of local specialist care and the value of organ donation. By reusing viable heart tissue that would otherwise be discarded, doctors were able to help two children in a single, integrated surgical sequence — a step forward for paediatric cardiac medicine in the region.

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