Growing Your Baby - Parenthood from Pregnancy to Pre-school » Heart Surgery

UPDATE: 25 Weeker Fitted With An External Pacemaker

Lisa — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:22:03 +0000

In July, we introduced you to Taylor Gardner. This amazing little girl was born at 25 weeks weighing just 540 grams.

A 19 week ultrasound revealed Taylor had a complete heart block found in 1 in 200,000 babies.

At that time her mother Rebecca Gardner was put on bedrest so that her pregnancy could be monitored.

“It was heart-wrenching, but I wanted her to survive because she is my 11th pregnancy and I only had one child,” Ms Gardner said.

Nine hours after she was born, doctors connected her tiny heart, which was half the size of a cherry, to an external pacemaker that was bigger than her entire body.

Although only a handful of premature babies in the world had ever been fitted with an external pacemaker, and none less than 750g, Dr Alex Veldman said surgeons had no other choice but to rewrite history.

Five months later, Taylor’s external pacemaker has been replaced with a permanent internal pacemaker and she has gained several kilograms, weighing a relatively healthy 2.7 kilograms.

The next steps for this miracle baby will be to withdraw her respiratory support and increase normal feeding so she can go home in coming months, he said.

Taylor’s mother, Rebecca Gardner, said she cried tears of happiness when she saw Taylor emerge from surgery last week without wires connected to her heart. Among other things, it meant she could hold her baby more freely.
”If she’s home for Christmas I’ve already told people that I will put a bow on her and put her under the Christmas tree. She will be my Christmas present.”

I am so happy for this family. I hope that the doctors are able to wean Taylor from the vent in time for her to be home for the Holidays.

It is amazing that she has been able to survive being born so early and having a heart condition. This is one determined little girl.

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Miracle Baby Born With Heart Outside His Chest

Lisa — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:42:21 +0000

A five-day old baby is being described as a miracle after he survived being born with heart outside of this chest.

Vibha Devi, who was born on Thursday in a remote rural village in India’s Bihar state, was rushed by 24hr train to the capital by his desperate father.

Leaving his wife behind, Chander Manjhi and his father-in-law travelled to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to try to save the child’s life.

During a complete check-up doctors found the baby also has multiple disorders. Apart from the protruding heart, he also has a hole in his heart and has a single pump (for pumping blood). A normal heart has two pumps.

Suffering from a condition known as Ectopia Cordis, which causes the heart to be abnormally placed inside or outside of the body, most babies die within hours of being born.

However, there is guarded optimism for Vibha after the child survived the arduous 800-mile train journey from Muzaffarpur to Delhi.

“He is stable and is being treated for infection. Once the infection goes, we will do the surgery,” said Dr A.K. Bisoi, a cardiologist at the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Department at AIIMS.

“His parents are lucky the baby is still alive even after infection as it has spread to all body parts. We are trying our best to save the baby.”

Due to the family’s income and the rarity of the child’s condition, cardiologists at AIIMS, including Dr Bisoi, are providing treatment for free.

A team of five surgeons is on stand-by to operate should Vibha survive the next few weeks.

“The surgery is a multi-layered procedure and might take months,” said Dr Bisoi.

“We have to create space step by step and the chest wall has to be reconstructed.

“In India, no infant with such a defect has survived,” Dr Bisoi added.

‘There are only three survivors suffering from the disease in the world. But this baby is the only one with two heart defects,’ he said.

‘It’s a miracle and challenge for doctors. Every extra day he survives gives us an opportunity to deal with the rare disease and we are learning a lot from the case. We are doing our best to ensure the child lives,’ Bisoi said.

For now, the baby’s heart has been covered with a synthetic membrane and infected blood fully replaced from his body.

In 2006, doctors in Florida, U.S. carried out a similar operation on Naseem Hasni who was born with his heart outside his chest.

Doctors wrapped his heart in Gore-Tex, a waterproof, breathable fabric used in outdoor clothing and medical applications. His heart was then wrapped in a layer of his own skin, to substitute for his missing pericardium, the sac that encloses the heart.

The heart was then slowly eased inside his chest.

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Baby Born With Heart On His Stomach

Lisa — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:07:51 +0000

A Chinese baby has stunned doctors after he survived being born with his heart on his stomach.

Surgeons said the boy would only live for less then a week after he was born in eastern China.

Now, more than a month later, the baby is home with his parents who are trying to raise $70,000 for an operation to move his heart into his chest.

The amazing baby was one of a set of twins but his brother was born with no complications.

“Both of us are very healthy, and we can’t understand why our son was born like this,”the baby’s dad, Lee Chen said.

“You can see the heart beating under his skin and we don’t dare let him sleep in a cot just in case he rolls on to his tummy and stops his heart beating.

“We take turns in holding him so he can sleep safely.”

“He needs an operation but we’re a poor family and we hope we can get help from some kindhearted people,” added Mr Chen.

I hope that these parents are able to raise the funds to save their baby. This little fighter deserves the chance to live normally. Related Articles:

High Court Rejects Couple’s Plea To Abort 25-Week-Old Fetus

Lisa — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:12:31 +0000

An Indian court on Monday rejected a woman’s petition to abort her 25-week-old fetus with a congenital heart problem, saying the law does not permit such late-term abortions.

Last month, Niketa Mehta, 31, her husband, Haresh, and their gynecologist, Dr. Nikhil Dattar, petitioned the court to allow an abortion.

During the 20 week ultrasound it was seen that the baby had a complete congenital heart blockage and malpositioned arteries that could, doctors say, require a pacemaker implantation soon after birth.

The couple’s lawyer, Amit Karkhanis, says they can’t afford to pay for the frequent change of pacemaker that the fetus’ condition would require.

The Mehtas, who found out after 24 weeks that the fetus had congenital heart disease, fear the quality of the child’s life would suffer, Karkhanis said.

But the Bombay High Court said that it was up to Parliament and not the court to change the provisions of Indian law, which specifies that a pregnancy cannot be terminated after 20 weeks unless the mother faces a medical risk.

Abortions are legal in India until the 12th week of pregnancy. Between 12 and 20 weeks abortions are allowed if either the mother or the fetus faces a health risk.

I have watching this story for over a week now wonder which way it was going go.

I know that when this baby arrives it’s spirit will make this couple forget all of the medical care he/she will need. Babies have a funny way of doing that.

*It is worth noting that a 25 week-old fetus has a 65% chance of survival out of the womb. This baby would be born with it’s eyes open and could possible take a breath on it’s own…It will be interesting to see how healthy the baby is when it arrives.*

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UPDATE: Baby Waiting For Heart Surprises Doctors By Surviving Off Life Support

Lisa — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:07:51 +0000

Two weeks ago, we introduced you to Theo Davis, the little boy born with half a heart. At that time he had already undone five operations, but was still given just two weeks to live without a new organ.

After surprising doctors by breathing on his own earlier this month, the little fighter survived an operation last week that improved his heart functions.

This has left doctors to believe that he can come off the transplant list and he may not now need a new heart until teenage years.

Even though they have a long way to go, his parents are thrilled that they maybe getting him home in a few weeks.

I am so excited for this family! The best part about this story is that another baby can hopefully be moved up the donor list.

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Baby With Heart Defect Finds Family After Being Put Up For Adoption Twice

Lisa — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:48:01 +0000

Beautiful Emma Grace is seen here in this picture sucking on a pacifier while being held by her new mom.

This amazing baby is now part of a family that loves her. Sadly, her life wasn’t always this stable.

Born two weeks early on Monday, March 24 at 6:18 p.m., Emma weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces, and spanned all of 16 inches.

At birth she was given up with her ‘23-year-old birth mother, a drug-user, smoker and drinker who knew she could never care for the baby’.

Just after she was born Emma was diagnosed with a heart defect that would need to be corrected by surgery and followed up with lots of therapy.

Even though another couple stepped in and decided to adopt her, they backed out when they learned of her heart condition and of their own pregnancy by in-vitro fertilization.

Knowing that she was parent less and facing a enormous surgery, the nurses in the NICU stepped in and gave this special baby the love and care she needed in the days leading up to her surgery.

It was then that cardiac surgery nurse Daniel Monroe, realized that Emma could be the one thing his wife had wanted her whole life.

The couple already had a little boy, 5, but they couldn’t seem to get pregnant a second time and they desperately wanted a baby girl.

Elizabeth and Dan Monroe called the birth mother’s attorney the day after Emma’s surgery and made their desire to adopt known. They sent a letter, explaining their backgrounds and professions. Within one day the birth mother accepted their adoption and the baby was theirs.

The Monroes know it isn’t going to be easy. They were reminded of that soon after Emma’s surgery, when she bled into her brain. It’s a common problem for premature babies because their vessels haven’t had time to fully develop and can rupture easily. So Emma got another piece of hardware: a shunt to relieve the pressure in her brain.

“We are 100 percent, totally committed to this child,” Daniel Monroe said, “regardless of what comes at us.”

“I truly believe that God has put her in our path because we can make a huge difference in her life,” said Elizabeth, who plans to take at least a year off from work to focus on the baby.

“There’s going to be a lot of moments, hard moments, we know that,” she said the day Emma was finally leaving hospital in late May. Elizabeth, having spent the night there, was running on two hours of sleep. “God will never give us more than we can handle.”

This family deserves every moment of happiness that they get. I hope that Emma grows up to defy all of the odds she has been given.

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Baby Waiting For Heart Surprises Doctors By Surviving Off Life Support

Lisa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:49:25 +0000

Theo Davis, from Keswick, Cumbria, has hyperplastic left heart syndrome, which means he was born with half a heart.

He has had five operations and been given just two weeks to live without a new organ.

He recently amazed doctors by coming off his life support machine and breathing on his own, giving him more time to live. Parents, Rebecca Giles and Ryan Davis said they were delighted with their son’s progress.

Dr Richard Kirk, a consultant paediatric cardiologist, urged people to consider becoming donors.

He said: “No-one can ever know if they are going to be in a situation where their child’s life is threatened.

“They could even be asked to consider letting their child be a donor. We would urge people to think about that and those kind of issues well ahead of time. This would be very helpful.”

“Theo has had to fight all his life – he was born with only half a heart so one side has had to fight for the other side and he has surprised all the doctors, ” he added.

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UPDATE: Pacemaker Baby Survives MRSA Superbug

Lisa — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:42:05 +0000

In April, I introduced you to an amazing baby that was outfitted with a pacemaker at just 5 days old.

Liam King, who was born at 34 weeks gestation, was diagnosed with a heart block, a condition which affects electrical signals sent to the heart to control the heartbeats.

Because Liam is so small, the pacemaker is located near his stomach. It controls the lower chambers of his heart, which were not working properly.

The little fighter was then left fighting for his life when MRSA superbug infected his pacemaker wound.

Doctors at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children removed the device last month and fitted another on the opposite side of his chest.

The operation was a success and Liam was transferred to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, last Tuesday. He was deemed well enough to return home on Wednesday night.

After stying in the hospital for five and a half weeks Liam has been released from the hospital.

His mom noticed a visible improvement in her son after the first pacemaker was removed.

She said: “It was so good to see him after that operation, because he started smiling and gurgling again. He was back to his normal self after a couple of days.

Miss Collier, who stayed by her son’s bedside in hospital, said an investigation was now under way to find out how Liam contracted the superbug, and that his old pacemaker has been sent away for checks.

We wish Liam and his family well. I know that this little man will do well.

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Amazing Baby Defies Odds After Being Born With Only Half A Heart

Lisa — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:57:11 +0000

When Zephan Bjorkman arrived at 29 weeks gestation, doctors didn’t believe that he would survive.

At birth he was found to have a “double inlet left ventricle with malposed great vessels,” which means that his right ventricle, one of the heart’s two pumping chambers, never developed, leaving the left ventricle to work for both.

In a normal heart, the left ventricle pumps oxygen-rich blood through the body, and the right ventricle pumps the oxygen-depleted blood to the lungs. Zephan’s left ventricle is mixing the oxygen-rich and oxygen-depleted blood and pumping it to the body and the lungs.

One in 10,000 babies is born with some variation of this heart defect, one of the rarest.

“This wouldn’t make the top 10 or even the top 20 of congenital heart defects,” said Dr. Richard Ohye, a pediatric cardiac surgeon at Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

Despite all of his issues, Zephan has received many miracles. The first was when he survived his birth.

The second was when his is pulmonary artery developed a partial blockage, a condition called pulmonary stenosis, reducing blood flow to the lungs. For a normal heart, would be a serious problem, but for Zephan, it was a blessing. It gave him a reprieve, allowing him more time to grow before undergoing heart surgery.

On June 17, he is scheduled to undergo the first operation. A second will follow when he is 18 to 24 months old.

If all goes according to plan, the surgeons at Mott will reroute the blood flow by rearranging the blood vessels. The left ventricle will pump oxygen-rich blood to his body, and the oxygen-depleted blood will bypass the heart, flowing directly to the lungs.

At Mott, the survival rate for the first surgery is about 90 percent, Ohye said, and 98 percent for the second. His doctors expect Zephan will be able to lead a quality life, although it will be defined by his defective heart. As for his long-term prognosis, the doctors just do not know, because this type of surgery is relatively new.

I can’t imagine how these parents feel, but I wish them the very best. This is the kind of story that should make parents of a healthy baby feel blessed.

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UK Doctors Outfit 5 Day Old Baby With Pacemaker

Lisa — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:28:04 +0000

Liam King, is recovering and at home after being fitted with a pacemaker. The 5 day old baby is one of the youngest patients to be given a pacemaker.

Doctors told his parents that without the operation to correct his heartbeat, Liam might live for just 15 minutes.

Father Andy said his return from hospital was “like Christmas Day all over again”.

Liam now faces operations at ages five, 12 and 21 to replace the device as he grows up.

He may also need a heart transplant.

Liam, who was born at 34 weeks gestation, was diagnosed with a heart block, a condition which affects electrical signals sent to the heart to control the heartbeats.

Because Liam is so small, the pacemaker is located near his stomach. It controls the lower chambers of his heart, which were not working properly.

“We saw a light at the end of the tunnel then, the day he had his pacemaker. And two weeks later when he came home, it was like Christmas Day all over again,” Mr King said.

In order to keep Liam safe, his parents have been asked to not use a mobile phone near him in case it interferes with the device. MP3 players, wi-fi internet and even loudspeakers also pose a threat as well.

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