Hospital performs open heart surgery on baby
SHARJAH: The Ministry of Health and Prevention announced that the Cardiology Department at Al Qassimi Women’s & Children’s Hospital has successfully performed an open-heart surgery on a two-month-old baby weighing 3.5 kg, born with congenital heart defects causing severe heart and respiratory failure and the inability to feed naturally.
The baby, which was born to parents who suffered for 12 years without children and a history of illness and death of a previous child from congenital diseases, underwent drug therapy and careful observation by the medical staff. She was admitted to the paediatric intensive care department and was put on a ventilator after her breathing deteriorated.
Despite the severity of the case and COVID19-related hazards, the paediatric cardiologists decided to perform open-heart surgery to save the infant’s life.
The surgery culminated in success, thanks to the synergy between the cardiologists, paediatric cardiac anaesthesia team, nursing staff, and technicians. After the surgery, the baby was removed from the ventilator once her vital signs returned to normal.
On the following day, the baby was transferred to the paediatric surgery ward, where the nursing staff took utmost care of the baby and trained the parents on home care, treating the wound and feeding her.
On the third day, the baby was discharged and left the hospital with her parents in good condition with an improvement in her breathing and breastfeeding abilities. The parents expressed their happiness and gratitude for the efforts of the hospital and the staff.
Dr. Safia Al Khaja, Director of Al Qassimi Women’s and Children’s Hospital, expressed her happiness at the successful surgery despite the circumstances which, however, did not hinder the medical team. She thanked Dr. Ahmed Al Kamali, Head of the Paediatric Department and the medical staff for their tremendous efforts.
She stated that the hospital is well-equipped to provide the necessary care for children with complicated congenital heart defects.