麻豆果冻传媒

The Bay Area鈥檚 Lizzy Craze is America鈥檚 longest-living pediatric heart transplant recipient to survive with an original donor heart.

For Release: October 6, 2014

STANFORD, Calif. 鈥� This Wednesday, Oct. 8, newlywed Lizzy Craze, 32, will go to work at her customer service job in the Silicon Valley. Then, she鈥檒l probably squeeze in a run and have a nice dinner. Pretty normal stuff. But to those who know her, it won鈥檛 be just another day. Instead, it will mark the 30th anniversary of her heart transplant at Stanford in 1984.

The day represents a milestone in the history of pediatric heart transplantation. That鈥檚 because Lizzy hasn鈥檛 needed replacement of the donor heart during the 30 years it鈥檚 been beating in her chest. She is the only heart transplant recipient in America, and likely the world, to survive 30 years with the same donor heart she received as a toddler.

鈥淚n 1984, I was only expected to survive with my new heart for five to 10 years,鈥� said Lizzy, whose family lost three children to familial dilated cardiomyopathy and whose surviving older brother also had a heart transplant.

1984 was a landmark year for pediatric heart transplantation. Though transplants had been performed in older children, that year marked the first series of small-child (under the age of 5) heart transplants at a handful of transplant centers, such as Stanford and Columbia. It was groundbreaking territory.

鈥淣o one was sure back then if a donor heart would even grow if you put it in such a young child,鈥� said cardiologist Daniel Bernstein, MD, who guided Lizzy鈥檚 care throughout childhood at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford and the Heart Transplant program.

The surgery, which some considered experimental, came at a dramatic moment. Lizzy was a few months shy of her third birthday when her heart was failing fast. A transplant was her only option.

She could not have been in better hands. The trailblazing surgery was led by the late Norman Shumway, MD, the father of American heart transplantation, who performed the first successful adult heart transplant in the United States in 1968 at Stanford. On Shumway鈥檚 team was , who is still active as a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Lizzy was the youngest successful heart transplant recipient in America at the time of her transplant.

But many doctors assumed her new heart would need replacing at some point. Transplanted hearts can fail due to organ rejection or other complications; the other small children who received donor hearts in 1984 either died or eventually required another heart transplant.

Bernstein said he and his team 鈥渉ad to do a lot of never-done-before tricks to manage Lizzy鈥檚 transplant. We even borrowed some techniques the kidney transplant doctors used. For example, we treated Lizzy every other day with steroids so she would grow. We also used the immunosuppressant cyclosporine, which had just been introduced. Later, as we learned more, we discovered that if you get past 10 years, your chance of living a long time with your originally transplanted heart increases. The body鈥檚 immune system adapts to the new heart better.鈥� (Lizzy needed a kidney transplant as a teenager due to the side effects of anti-rejection medicines.)

It hasn鈥檛 hurt that Lizzy has been a model patient. 鈥淚 know the importance of taking my medications and being physically active,鈥� she said. True that 鈥� her boyfriend and now husband, Jeff, proposed while they were backpacking in Yosemite last year, and on Oct. 5 she completed the Rock鈥檔鈥橰oll Half-Marathon in San Jose.

But living 30 years with the originally transplanted heart? No one could have predicted the milestone. 鈥淚 think this case is a monument to what we still don鈥檛 understand in the field of biology,鈥� said Bernstein, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine.

When she turned 18, Lizzy 鈥済raduated鈥� from Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital to the adult heart transplant program at Stanford. 鈥淭hat transition to a different care team can be difficult,鈥� said Sharon Hunt, MD, medical director of the Post-Heart Transplant Program at , 鈥渁nd we put forth a major effort to make it as smooth as possible. In Lizzy鈥檚 case, this was easy because she鈥檚 such an ideal patient.鈥� Hunt, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the School of Medicine, was at Stanford when the groundbreaking transplant occurred. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to watch her career and personal development, and it鈥檚 been fun.鈥�

鈥淗er story is truly inspiring,鈥� said Mary Burge, LCSW, a social worker at Stanford since 1980. Burge was there to help support parents Susan and Charles Craze when Lizzy had her transplant, and also in 1983 when Lizzy鈥檚 16-year-old brother had his heart transplant. Burge still works with patients at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital. 鈥淲hen meeting new families who are devastated to learn their child will die without a transplant, they鈥檙e encouraged by the positive way Lizzy lives her life. And when I share photos of Lizzy, they see that鈥檚 she鈥檚 not shy about showing her scar. The pride and joy with which Lizzy lives her life provides tremendous hope for others.鈥�

Through it all, Lizzy and her family have never forgotten the power of organ donation. 鈥淲e are always
mindful that, during a time of unbelievable grief, the family of a stranger gave me the gift of life,鈥� said Lizzy. 鈥淲e are forever thankful.鈥�

Lizzy pays it forward. She is a member of the Transplant Patient Advisory Council at Stanford Health Care and keeps track of heart transplant stories and patients around the world. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great for other heart transplant recipients to know that, like me, you can live a totally normal and long life,鈥� said Lizzy, who honeymooned in Africa this year. And in celebration of her anniversary, she is raising money and awareness for Donate Life California.

But even though Lizzy has reached Wikipedia fame, she鈥檚 still taking the anniversary in stride. There really are no big plans for Oct. 8. Of course, if you see her out for her regular run that day, she鈥檒l be easy to spot. That鈥檚 because she鈥檒l be wearing the custom T-shirt she displayed at the San Jose half-marathon. On the front? It reads, I had a change of heart at Stanford. On the back, heart transplant recipient 1984.

Only one person can wear that shirt.

Authors

Media Contact:
Robert Dicks
(650) 497-8364
rdicks@stanfordchildrens.org