Many newborns with cardiovascular defects have been successfully cured by Cardiovascular Centre, Hue Central Hospital
In early August, Cardiovascular Centre, Hue Central Hospital admitted a 6-month old baby (Phu Thien town, Gia Lai) suffering from abnormal heart disease due to the embryologic stage of the heart formation, leading to the transposition of the great arteries (aorta and pulmonary artery)
Since the day she was born, she has been to many medical facilities. When coming to Hue Central Hospital, the patient was having acute respiratory distress, which then was consulted by many doctors. Then the transposition of the great arteries was treated to stop heart failure.
The surgery lasted more than 4 hours, the doctors had to stop the heart, using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Surgeons then removed two large arteries from the two ventricles, reconnecting the coronary artery, and performing arterial anastomosis to return them to the right anatomical position.
It was the aorta connecting to the left ventricle, the pulmonary artery to the right ventricle. After a month of follow-up, her health was stable, skin was fairer, she was breastfed and she had gained weight compared to before.
Dr. Tran Hoai An, Director of the Cardiovascular Centre, Hue Central Hospital shared that in the case of the congenital heart defects as above, the physicians and doctors at the Cardiovascular Centre have performed routine operation for many years; including complex cases such as transposition with the aorta twisted, cardiopulmonary bypass surgery that was quite complicated for babies born with less than 2kg but were “miraculously” saved.
In addition to surgery for the cases of congenital heart disease mentioned above, the Centre would implement advanced cardiac catheterization techniques, percutaneous ductus arteriosus closure (also called Amplatzer duct occluder), dilatation of pulmonary valve, aorta, ventricular septal, atrial septal defects for patients.
Previously with these diseases, it was necessary to perform open-heart surgery to patch but now, with the new technique, doctors only put a small device containing a compact balloon, from the inguinal vein to the left ventricle. When reaching the location to intervene, the balloon will inflate to seal the foramen.
In comparison with open surgery, this method has a success rate of nearly 100%, leaving no scars. After 1-2 days of surgery, patients can be discharged, and the cost is reduced greatly.
Recently, thanks to the research and access to advanced techniques in the world, the Cardiovascular Centre, Hue Central Hospital has treated many serious heart failures with reconstruction of the valve leaflets from autologous pericardium; with the technique to treat aortic aneurysm by Stent Graft placement; ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation that supports and maintains vital functions of patients with severe heart failure and respiratory distress) ...
Dr. Tran Hoai An informed that thanks to the deployment of advanced techniques, each year, the unit conducted surgical treatment for approximately 1,000 cases of severe heart diseases from various sections and regions throughout the country that previously required treatment from abroad.
Nearly 100% of the cases were able to fully recover, with stable health; this figure increased by 1.5 times of that in the previous time. Each year, the Centre also received more than 5000 cases of Stent Graft treatments, interventions ... related to cardiovascular diseases.
Not only actively deploying the aforementioned techniques, the Cardiovascular Centre would also coordinate with domestic and foreign charities to screen for congenital heart defects in various localities and to conduct free surgeries for suitable cases. Thereby, doctors would transfer advanced techniques to the specialists at satellite hospitals in the Central – Central Highland region, contributing to the treatment for severe heart diseases, reducing the burden on provincial and central hospitals.
Story and photo: Minh Van