06/05/2026
After performing the first partial heart transplant in Florida, Dr. David Kalfa, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Nicklaus Children’s and Professor/Researcher at FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, along with Dr. Ryan Halickman, Pediatric and Fetal Cardiologist and co-leader of the partial heart valve transplantation program, and the team at Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute have now completed their second partial heart transplant — implanting a living pulmonary valve in a 2-year-old child.
This groundbreaking procedure uses a living valve designed to grow with the child, offering the potential to reduce the need for future open-heart surgeries and marking another major step forward in pediatric heart innovation.
Learn more about this historic milestone: https://www.nicklauschildrens.org/news-events/press-releases/heart-institute-performs-floridas-first-partial-heart-transplant