13-year-old Dana, the first person in Ukraine to undergo a lung transplant, has been discharged from the hospital
Dana became the first child in Ukraine to receive a lung transplant. She suffered from a congenital heart defect - a patent ductus arteriosus which caused pulmonary hypertension. She had been on the waiting list for a long time, in need of donor lungs.
Dana was given a chance at a new life thanks to a posthumous donation. The donor was an 11-year-old child whose parents consented to organ donation after brain death was confirmed. The organs saved the lives of two children: in early August, Dana received a lung transplant at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, while 11-year-old Denys received a heart transplant at the Center for Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
The lung transplant surgery lasted about eight hours. First, doctors repaired the heart defect closing the duct between the aorta and the pulmonary artery and then performed the lung transplant.
After the surgery, Dana quickly regained consciousness and began breathing on her own. During her rehabilitation, she was already able to go for walks, and now a special day has arrived: Dana is going home.
Borys Todurov, General Director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine: "This was the first lung transplant performed on a child in Ukraine. It went quite successfully, and today Dana is going home in very good condition. I sincerely hope she will live a long and high-quality life." Moreover, this offers hope to patients currently on the waiting list specifically for a lung transplant.
Currently, 58 Ukrainians are on the waiting list for a lung transplant. Another 40 require a heart-lung transplant. In total, over 470 organ transplants were performed in 2026.
Dana was given a chance at a new life thanks to a posthumous donation. The donor was an 11-year-old child whose parents consented to organ donation after brain death was confirmed. The organs saved the lives of two children: in early August, Dana received a lung transplant at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, while 11-year-old Denys received a heart transplant at the Center for Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
The lung transplant surgery lasted about eight hours. First, doctors repaired the heart defect closing the duct between the aorta and the pulmonary artery and then performed the lung transplant.
After the surgery, Dana quickly regained consciousness and began breathing on her own. During her rehabilitation, she was already able to go for walks, and now a special day has arrived: Dana is going home. Borys Todurov, General Director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine: "This was the first lung transplant performed on a child in Ukraine. It went quite successfully, and today Dana is going home in very good condition. I sincerely hope she will live a long and high-quality life." Moreover, this offers hope to patients currently on the waiting list specifically for a lung transplant.
Currently, 58 Ukrainians are on the waiting list for a lung transplant. Another 40 require a heart-lung transplant. In total, over 470 organ transplants were performed in 2026.