Contact: Carol Wittman
cmwittma@texaschildrens.org
832-824-2040
Texas Children's Hospital

Frank De Santiago

Caption: Frank De Santiago recuperates from transplant surgery in Houston after receiving a new healthy heart. He made medical history last fall when Texas Children's Hospital discharged him after implanting a mechanical heart pump. The 16-year-old is the first pediatric patient in the nation to be discharged while wearing a mechanical heart pump, and doctors believe a return to somewhat normal life helped prepare him for receiving a donor heart.

Credit: Photo by Paul Vincent Kuntz, Texas Children's Hospital

Usage Restrictions: With credit

Related news release: Texas Children's discharges history-making patient