Loma Linda Medical Center said Friday has accepted a fourth baby born with most of his brain missing and will keep it alive for up to a week in hopes that its organs can be used for transplant. The boy, identified only as Baby D, was born at an unidentified Southern California hospital Thursday and transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Center, said Anita Rockwell, a spokeswoman for the center. Baby D suffers from anencephaly, in which most of the brain is missing. The condition almost always leads to death within days or weeks. ``His parents want to donate their baby's organs when brain death occurs,'' Rockwell said. Dr. Joyce Peabody, Loma Linda chief of neonatology, said Baby D was resting comfortably Friday and receiving nutrition and water as needed. Rockwell said the newborn will be cared for for a seven-day period that began Thursday night. Under Loma Linda policy, Baby D will be placed on life support if needed to prevent damage to organs. If Baby D is declared brain-dead within seven days, the hospital will give notice that his organs are available for transplant. If he isn't brain dead within seven days, he will be allowed to die. The time limit was developed to alleviate ethical concerns that doomed anencephalics not be kept alive indefinitely merely so their organs can be donated. Rockwell said anonymity was requested by Baby D's parents and officials of the hospital where he was born. Baby D is the fourth anencephalic newborn accepted as a possible organ donor at the hospital. The first was stillborn Dec. 23, thwarting her parents' desire to have her major organs donated. Her corneas and heart valves were given to infants needing them. The second anencephalic was declared brain-dead Feb. 18. Attempts to donate his liver failed because potential recipients either weren't suitable matches or couldn't be operated on in time. He was disconnected from life-support Feb. 20. Most recently, a girl was transferred to Loma Linda after birth Feb. 20. Because she never met brain-death criteria within the seven-day limit, she was disconnected from a respirator and allowed to die on Feb. 28. However, her eyes, corneas and heart valves were later donated to infants needing organs. Loma Linda gained worldwide attention in 1984 when Dr. Leonard Bailey, frustrated at the lack of heart donors for babies, transplanted a baboon's heart into a girl known as Baby Fae. She died 20{ days later. Bailey, whose baboon transplant was sharply criticized by many doctors, subsequently urged the use of anencephalics as donors of hearts and other organs.
