Getty ImagesA toddler in Italy remains in critical condition after undergoing a transplant with a damaged heart.
The organ, which was transported south from the from the city of Bolzano to Naples in December, was reportedly placed in an unsuitable container and in direct contact with dry ice, leading to severe tissue damage. The box also lacked a thermometer that could alert the medical team to the low temperature.
The heart, which came from another young boy who drowned, arrived "burned by frostbite," the child's family's lawyer, Francesco Petruzzi, said.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident and six medics have been placed under formal investigation.
The heart transplant went ahead in December but the child, who is just over two years old, had to be placed on life support shortly afterwards.
He is now in a "stable but critical condition", according to the hospital where he is being treated.
The longer the boy is kept on life support, the more serious the complications to his lungs, liver and kidneys could be.
On Wednesday, a team of specialist doctors from major hospitals around Italy will convene to decide whether the child's current conditions make him suitable for a new transplant.
"I am not giving up," his mother Patrizia Mercolino told Italian media, adding she hoped the child could still be eligible for another donor heart.
She has appealed to the Pope for help in finding a new organ for her son.
Her lawyer said that if the doctors deemed another transplant not viable, the family would seek a third opinion.
"We must absolutely clarify what happened," said health minister Orazio Schillaci. "We owe it to the child, to the family, but also to all Italians."
"We have an excellent national health service which has been able to handle and almost always resolve complex situations. So, I believe citizens should not lose faith."
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