Donor heart cooled incorrectly Italy mourns the death of two-year-old Domenico
For weeks, the whole of Italy was hoping - now two-year-old Domenico is dead. The child with a heart condition died after a failed transplant in which the donor organ was apparently damaged during transportation.
21.02.2026, 10:30
21.02.2026, 10:52
dpa
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- Two-year-old Domenico from Italy has died from an irreversible deterioration in his condition following a failed heart transplant.
- The donor heart that was initially found was apparently incorrectly cooled and severely damaged during transportation. A further operation was later deemed hopeless.
- The public prosecutor's office is investigating several hospital employees for negligent bodily harm and two surgeons have been suspended.
The fate of little Domenico was felt by people far beyond Italy. The two-year-old already had a replacement organ in prospect, but it was then transported incorrectly. Now he is dead.
The little boy with a heart condition in Italy has died after a failed transplant. According to the hospital in Naples, Domenico, who was less than two and a half years old, died "as a result of a sudden and irreversible deterioration in his clinical condition" in the intensive care unit. The case has been making headlines in Italy for weeks - partly because mistakes were apparently made during an operation.
After a long wait, a donor heart was finally found for the boy, who was born with a heart defect, shortly before Christmas. However, it was cooled incorrectly during transportation and was severely damaged as a result. A team of doctors decided on Wednesday that a new operation to possibly transplant a new heart would be pointless - also because other organs such as the kidneys were no longer functioning properly.
Two surgeons suspended
blue News already reported on little Domenico at the beginning of the week. Little Tommaso's originally transplanted heart proved to be non-functional immediately after the operation. The organ came from a four-year-old donor child who had died in the province of Bolzano. The heart was removed at the hospital in Bolzano.
Investigators are looking into the procedures surrounding the organ removal and transportation. According to the family, the donor heart was cooled with dry ice instead of conventional ice during transportation and was damaged in the process. Corresponding reports became known in February 2026.
The public prosecutor's office in Naples is investigating six employees of the hospital involved on suspicion of negligent bodily harm. Two surgeons have also been suspended, reports the Italian media agency Ansa.
