[Heart transplant: an emotional storm for the child and his family].

The purpose of the present study was a psychological analysis of the emotional state of a family awaiting heart transplantation. Current practice suggests that such emotional reaction is characterized by mixed and contradictory feelings which require further investigation. Subjects were 5 children waiting for transplant and 5 with previous transplant. Methods were: 1) open interview with children and parents; 2) projective drawing test for children (Corman family test, H.T.P., L.A.D.S., M.U.C.T., K.F.D.); 3) "palinomas" questionnaire which investigates: awareness of the illness, child relation with the food, feelings of competence and control, self-esteem and perception of the self. "Palinomas" was created in Italy by a hospital psychological team in order to give a chance to the child to talk about himself and to maintain control over the situation. The information we obtained by "palinomas" revealed to be very useful to understand the personality of the child through the main areas reported above. Within the limits of an introductory study, results indicate that family needs an active psychological support in order to develop a more positive attitude.