Expert report finds artificial heart gave toddler 70% survival chance after Naples transplant failure

Findings of the 553-page forensic report

A 553-page forensic assessment deposited on 10 September 2026 by three court-appointed medical professors, Biagio Solarino, Ugolino Livi, and Ferdinando Luca Lorini, concluded that two-year-old Domenico Caliendo had a medium-to-long-term survival rate exceeding 70% if clinicians had connected him to a Berlin Heart within 72 hours of his surgery. Caliendo died on 21 February 2026 at Monaldi Hospital in Naples following a failed heart transplant carried out on 23 December 2025. The donor organ, harvested in Bolzano and flown to Naples, suffered irreversible tissue destruction due to exposure to dry ice and low temperatures during transit. Instead of installing the extracorporeal ventricular assist device, medical staff placed the toddler on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. When a compatible second donor heart became available on 17 February 2026, the child was deemed ineligible for surgery because prolonged ECMO maintenance had caused systemic organ failure.

Surgical conduct and medical records

The technical panel addressed specific questions posed by Preliminary Investigation Judge Mariano Sorrentino regarding surgical procedures and emergency decision-making. The experts found that the surgical team followed standard medical guidelines when removing the patient's native heart before unboxing the donor organ. This finding cleared chief cardiac surgeon Guido Oppido, deputy surgeon Emma Bergonzoni, and doctor Mariangela Addonizio of malpractice concerning the timing of the cardiectomy. Nevertheless, prosecutors maintain an investigation into seven hospital staff members, while Oppido and Bergonzoni contest disciplinary suspensions stemming from alleged alterations to clinical diaries and operating logs. Oppido faces a 12-month professional suspension, while Bergonzoni faces a seven-month ban. Both surgeons appeared before the Naples Review Court on 11 September 2026 to challenge these interdictions.

Legal petitions and evidentiary hearings

Family legal counsel Francesco Petruzzi argued that the findings warrant a reclassification of the pending criminal charges from involuntary manslaughter to voluntary homicide. Petruzzi stated that draft versions of the surgical report had been altered and that staff failed to verify organ conditions before proceeding.

If within 72 hours he had been connected to the Berlin Heart, the extracorporeal artificial heart, Domenico would have been re-transplantable and would have had a success rate of over 70%, the judge's experts write in their 553-page report, which is why I ask the prosecutor's office to evaluate the hypothesis of contesting voluntary homicide instead of involuntary manslaughter.

Domenico's mother, Patrizia Mercolino, alongside his father Antonio Caliendo, spoke publicly following the report's submission.

It was a chain of errors from beginning to end, they played with my son's life and thought they could hide everything. I will always be calm but I want justice, I want to look those doctors in the eyes: nobody brings Domenico back to me, but whoever made a mistake must pay.

Judge Mariano Sorrentino scheduled the formal evidentiary hearing for 12 and 13 November 2026, during which legal teams will examine and cross-examine the expert panel. Domenico was buried following a funeral ceremony held at Nola Cathedral on 4 March 2026.