Baby doing well after five-organ transplant

An eight-month-old boy who received five organs in a complex transplant for a rare gastrointestinal disease is ready for the next step - learning to eat, doctors said today.

Elijah Moulton was doing well after receiving a liver, small bowel, pancreas, colon and stomach during the seven-hour procedure on July 10 at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, doctors said.

He was born with total intestinal atresia, a malformation of the entire gastrointestinal tract that makes eating impossible.

Dr Mercedes Martinez said the boy would probably be moved to a rehab centre on Monday, where he would spend as many as six weeks learning to eat. His release was delayed for a few days because he was having difficulty breathing.

"He's doing so well right now," Martinez said. "He's gorgeous. He's looking around and smiling."

Organ rejection and infection were the biggest complications the baby faced during the first six to 10 weeks after surgery, she said.

The organs came from one donor, and all were kept together as one unit, with connections intact, the hospital said.

Head surgeon Dr Dominique Jan performed the world's first successful intestinal transplant in 1991, involving two organs. As many as seven organs could be safely transplanted at the same time, he said.

"By transplanting several organs at once, we can give children with serious intestinal malformations or infections hope for a healthy future," he said.

Elijah's parents, Heather and Brad Moulton, live in Lewis, several hours north of New York City. He has a brother and sister, aged five and three.