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Doctors in Britain has successfully revived 12-year-old girl’s dormant heart and removed a donor heart, which she had started to reject.

Hannah Clark had the operation on February 20 in London by surgeons, under the supervision of heart specialist Sir Magdi Yacoub who had come out of retirement at the request of the girl’s parents.

In a routine examination it was reveled that her body had started to reject the heart, which Sir Yacoub had transplanted 10 years ago.

Hannah had been suffering from cardiomyopathy, which made her heart double in size and threatened to fail within a year.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “This is an exciting and important event.

“Surgeons like BHF Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub belived that if a heart is failing because of acute inflammation, it might be able to recover if rested.

“This seems to be exactly what has happened in this case, The piggy back heart allowed the patient’s own heart to take a rest.” Prof Weissberg said.

“Today the approach would be to implant a mechanical heart, called a ventricular assist device, to take over the work of the inflamed heart in the hope that the heart will recover and the device can be taken out after a few months.

“Ten years ago such devices were not sufficiently reliable, which is why Hannah received a donor heart alongside her own,” Prof Weissberg said.

Hannah’s mother Elizabeth Clark said, surgeons had been at first reluctant to remove the donor heart and reconnect the dormant one.

As Hannah’s heart started working again, she no longer needs to take the strong anti-rejection drugs she was on while she had the donor heart.