Domenico Caliendo, dispute over the expert report: "He could have been saved with the Berlin Heart. It was voluntary homicide."

Naples – A legal battle is heating up over the investigation into the death of Domenico Caliendo, the infant who died at Naples' Monaldi Hospital fifty-nine days after a heart transplant. The dispute is sparked by the results of the preliminary investigation entrusted by investigating judge Mariano Sorrentino to a panel of experts, whose conclusions offer diametrically opposed interpretations by the plaintiffs and the defendants' defense.

The family's accusation: "It was eventual intent."

According to the Caliendo family's lawyer, Francesco Petruzzi, the evidence gathered by the experts shifts the focus of the investigation from the operating room to the decisions made after December 23. At the heart of the dispute is the failure to insert advanced ventricular mechanical support.

According to the family's defense, the experts ruled out the possibility that cardiac surgeon Guido Oppido actually considered the use of the "Berlin Heart." The report also attested that the baby could have received this device within 72 hours, paving the way for a safe retransplant and an estimated 70 percent chance of survival.

"In our opinion, this constitutes voluntary manslaughter, with eventual intent," stated attorney Petruzzi. He emphasized that the doctor's professional caliber precludes mere incompetence: "The question is no longer why mistakes were made, but why we didn't save Domenico after a series of errors."

The head physician's defense: "No censorship of the intervention."

The assessment of Guido Oppido's lawyers, Alfredo Sorge and Vittorio Manes, is radically opposite. They highlight how the expert report has dismantled the original main charge.

The panel of experts confirmed that the cardiectomy—the removal of the damaged heart—could have been legitimately initiated even before the new organ actually arrived in the operating room. "The main complaint, which also formed the basis for the accusation of forgery, has been denied and recognizes the absence of any censorship regarding the December 23rd operation," stated attorney Manes.

The position of the deputy surgeon: towards archiving

Satisfaction was also expressed by Emma Bergonzoni's lawyer, Oppido's assistant surgeon during the operation. Attorney Vincenzo Maiello emphasized how the report confirms the doctor's rigorous adherence to the leges artis.

Since the doctor's contribution was exhausted within the operating room, with no role in determining the post-operative outcome, the defense hopes for a swift conclusion to the trial: "We hope that the prosecutor's office will submit a request for dismissal as soon as possible with respect to all aspects of negligence," the lawyer concluded.