Naples – The case concerns the heart transplant performed on December 23rd at Monaldi Hospital on the then two-year-old Domenico, who later died after a long stay on ECMO, at the center of a fierce defense dispute because the organ was allegedly damaged.
The Naples Public Prosecutor's Office has placed seven Monaldi hospital staff members, including doctors and cardiac surgery team members, under investigation, issuing notices of investigation and also ordering the seizure of their cell phones.
The charge is manslaughter, with the family's defense requesting aggravated murder with possible intent, focusing on both the condition of the transplanted heart and the management of the 45 days following the operation. The Prosecutor's Office has requested a special evidentiary hearing regarding the medical-legal findings, while the results of the autopsy and expert reports on the removed and implanted hearts are awaited.
The urgent meeting of December 30th
In the last few hours, the internal minutes of an urgent meeting called by the management of Azienda dei Colli on December 30, seven days after the transplant, to review the case of little Domenico, have been added to the file.
At that meeting, according to the family's lawyer, Francesco Petruzzi, the head of pediatric cardiac surgery, Guido Oppido, reiterated his full confidence in the correctness of his work, describing the heart as "perfectly removed and intact" and maintaining that the transplant "does not leak blood in any anastomosis."
A passage from that report would also be found that would weigh heavily on the confrontation with the family: Oppido allegedly stated that, should the child die, he himself would request an autopsy "to protect his reputation." This statement, in light of the child's death and the opening of the criminal investigation, is read with particular bitterness by the parents today.
New testimonies from the team
In recent days, statements from several members of the team have also been filed, including a nurse who reported seeing Domenico "with his chest open and empty" while the new heart was still being thawed, and noticing the old organ already on the operating table.
Other statements highlight the crucial moment when the "yes" to the transplant was apparently given, with conflicting versions regarding the green light for the removal of the donated heart and the actual timing of its arrival in the operating room.
These elements, along with clinical documentation and internal protocols, are now being examined by consultants appointed by the Prosecutor's Office to reconstruct in detail the sequence of surgical procedures and any organizational and decision-making issues. The goal is to determine whether the procedure was conducted in compliance with national transplant guidelines or whether there were errors, omissions, or oversights.
The location of the head physician and the hospital
On the defense front, the lawyers for the cardiac surgeon Oppido reiterate that the doctor "did everything that was professionally required and humanly possible to save the child's life," emphasizing that the operation was performed in a highly urgent and complex situation.
In the meantime, the Colli Hospital has suspended two medical directors involved, clarifying that it intends to cooperate fully with the judiciary and that it trusts in the outcome of the investigations into the procedures adopted in the pediatric cardiac surgery department.
The hospital's position is to await the results of the autopsy and technical reports before taking any further action, internal or legal, against the staff involved. The defendants' lawyers, for their part, reject any accusation of carelessness or imprudence, maintaining that the team operated in compliance with agreed-upon protocols.
The family's request for truth
"The child's mother," Petruzzi's lawyer states, "is asking for clarity on this and all other aspects of this dramatic story," from the criteria for selecting the donated heart to the timing of its removal and transportation, to the management of the post-operative recovery and complications. The family insists that a detailed, minute-by-minute account be provided of what happened in the operating room, who approved the various phases, and why alternative solutions, such as postponing the surgery, were not considered.
While waiting for the judge to rule on the request for an evidentiary hearing and for the unrepeatable tests to be scheduled, Domenico's parents reiterate their confidence in the judiciary's work but announce a legal battle "to the end." "The time for justice has come, I demand and want the truth," his mother reiterated, while the investigation continues to widen and shake public opinion on the safety and transparency of pediatric transplants.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
It seems to me that the situation is complex, and that not everything is known; the documents are confusing, and the doctors have said different things. The family demands the truth, but the procedure must also be clear; the reported times do not match the reports, and there are still some points that are unclear.