Doctors save baby born with heart outside chest
Surgeons in Florida use Gore-Tex to repair rare birth defect
MIAMI - Using a piece of Gore-Tex fabric to make their repairs, doctors
performed corrective surgery on a baby born with his heart outside his
chest, and said Wednesday that the youngster should be able to lead a
close-to-normal life.
Naseem Hasni underwent surgery to put his heart inside his chest hours after
being delivered by Caesarean section Oct. 31 at Holtz Childrens Hospital.
He remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday.
Hes not going to be able to play certain kinds of sports where a blow to
the sternum to you and me wouldnt be a problem, but in him it would be. So
I think some competitive sports are going to be out, said Dr. Eliot
Rosenkranz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, but hes going to be able to
participate in other sorts of activities.
He added: Certainly the goal is as normal a childhood as he can achieve.
Before the surgery, Naseems heart looked like a peeled plum sitting atop
his pink chest, with the aorta diving back underneath the skin.
Nevertheless, the heart was beating away normally.
During the six-hour operation, surgeons first wrapped Naseems heart in
Gore-Tex, then 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.
Rare congenital defect
The baby was born with an extremely rare congenital defect, ectopia cordis,
in which the heart grows outside the body and the chest wall and sternum
fail to develop. The defect was spotted in an ultrasound exam in late
September after the mother, Michelle Hasni, 33, began feeling unusual
movement from the baby.
He was having hiccups, but it was constantly and it was every day.
Naseem was delivered at 36 weeks, a few days early. Surgeons made a larger
incision than normal to ensure that the heart would not be squeezed or touch
any part of the womb. Other than the heart defect, Naseem had developed
normally: He was 21 inches long and weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces at birth.
In a few weeks, Naseem will be fitted with a protective piece of plastic to
wear over his chest. When he is about 6 months old, surgeons will graft
pieces of his own ribs across his chest to create a sternum, or breastbone.
While doctors had not initially been sure that Naseem would survive until
Thanksgiving, he could be home with his family as early as Christmas,
Rosenkranz said.
Ectopia cordis occurs 5.5 to 7.9 times per 1 million live births, and the
survival rate after surgery is less than 50 percent, the boys doctors said.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Leanne Wynne
Midwife in charge of "Women's Business"
Mildura Aboriginal Health Service Mob 0418 371862
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