Jesica Santillan

Jesica Santillan (December 26, 1985 – February 22, 2003) was a Mexican national who died after an organ transplant operation in which she received the heart and lungs of a patient whose blood type did not match hers. Doctors at the Duke University Medical Center failed to check the compatibility before surgery began.

Jesica, two siblings, her mother Magdelena Santillan and her mother's boyfriend Melecio Huerta illegally entered the United States from Tamazula, Mexico, a town 275 miles west of Mexico City, so that she could receive medical treatment.[1] Relatives have stated that the family paid a smuggler to get them across the border. The family settled in Durham, North Carolina near Duke University Hospital and successfully raised money for the transplant operation with the help of Mack Mahoney, a local businessman.[2]

Operation

Jesica, whose blood was type O-positive, had a heart condition (restrictive cardiomyopathy and secondary nonreactive pulmonary hypertension), that resulted in reduced blood perfusion in her lungs.[3][1] On February 7, 2003, she received the heart and lung transplant at Duke University Hospital. The new organs had been flown in from Boston. James Jaggers, Santillan's transplant surgeon found that blood test results proving that the organ blood type (type A) and Jesica's blood type (O-Positive) did not match just as the surgery was ending.[1][4] Upon discovery of the error, the transplant team used immunosuppressant drugs and plasmapheresis to prevent immediate organ rejection.[5] The patient was kept on life support after the operation as donor for a second transplant was sought.[3]

On February 20, Jesica received a new heart and set of lungs after a new donor was found late on February 19, 2003. On February 21, she was declared brain dead. Her family was approached by the hospital to determine if her salvageable organs could be donated for use in other transplant patients. On the advice of their attorneys, the family declined. She was 17.

References
  1. Resnick, David (2003). "The Jesica Santillan Tragedy: Lessons Learned". The Hastings Center Report. 33 (4): 15–20. doi:10.2307/3528375. ISSN 0093-0334. JSTOR 3528375. PMID 12971057.
  2. WRAL (2013-10-23). "10 years later, questions surround Jesica's Hope Chest charity". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  3. Hopkins Tanne, Janice (2003-03-29). "When Jesica died". BMJ : British Medical Journal. 326 (7391): 717. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1125622.
  4. Archibold, Randal C. (2003-02-23). "Girl in Transplant Mix-Up Dies After Two Weeks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  5. Snyderman, Ralph (2016). A Chancellor's Tale: Transforming Academic Medicine. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. pp. xxvii. ISBN 978-0-8223-7393-3.
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