News - Full Article

"FIRST IN ISRAEL: OPEN HEART SURGERY IN PREMATURE BABY WEIGHING 1.76 LBS."

A rare open-heart operation conducted at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, saved the life of a premature baby weighing 1.76 lbs. (800 grams). The infant, one of a pair of twins born in the 30^th week of pregnancy three weeks ago, was transferred to Schneider Children's, a member of Clalit Health Services, suffering from a congenital heart defect.

Dr. Einat Birk, Director of the Cardiology Institute at Schneider Children's, and Dr. Michael Berant, Director of the Institute's Echocardiography Unit, diagnosed a rare transposition of the major arteries whereby the right pulmonary artery arose from the aorta instead of from the major pulmonary artery. This condition caused a tremendous overload of blood in both lungs. The lungs slowly deteriorated resulting in severe heart failure with the infant's life at stake.

Following consultation with specialists abroad, Prof. Bernardo Vidne, Director of Schneider Children's Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Prof. Leah Sirota, Director of Schneider Children's Neonatology Department, and Dr. Birk, decided to operate to correct the defect.

This was the first time that open heart surgery (utilizing a heart-lung machine) was conducted on such a small infant in Israel. There are only a few documented cases in the world. The operation was performed successfully last Thursday and the infant is now recovering in the Neonatal Department at Schneider Children's.

The operation was conducted by Prof. Bernardo Vidne, Director of Schneider Children's Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Dr. George Frenkel, Cardiac Surgeon, and anesthesiologists, Dr. Yakov Katz, Director of the Pediatric Anesthesiology Unit and Dr. Eliahu Simchi.

Prof. Vidne: "I have conducted many open heart surgeries in children during my career, and this was one of the most exciting that I have done. This baby had no chance of survival had he not undergone surgery. Despite the dangers involved due to the enormity and complexity of the infant's defect, we decided to proceed and I am happy that the operation was successful and I wish him and his family the best of health."

» Go Back