Luo Zhilin (right), director of the ultrasound department at Fuwai Yunnan Cardiovascular Hospital, performs a cranial ultrasound assessment on the newborn. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
A newborn baby suffering from a rare and life-threatening heart defect has made a remarkable recovery after undergoing emergency surgery at Fuwai Yunnan Cardiovascular Hospital in Kunming, Yunnan province, according to a local media report.
The baby, born weighing just 2.9 kilograms, was diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries, a congenital condition in which the heart's main arteries are reversed, preventing blood from properly circulating oxygen.
Soon after birth, the baby had critically low blood oxygen levels. An ultrasound revealed that the infant's foramen ovale, a key passage that allows blood flow between the heart's chambers in newborns, was nearly closed, leaving the baby's body in a state of extreme oxygen deprivation, according to the report from Yunnan.cn, a local news portal.
A multidisciplinary team led by Wang Xiaoqi, vice-president of the hospital, and Dong Shuo, director of pediatric surgery, decided to perform a complicated arterial switch operation to restore normal circulation.
Four days after chest closure surgery, the baby was weaned off the ventilator and showed steady cardiac recovery. The newborn has since been transferred from intensive care to a general ward and is expected to be discharged soon.
"For a baby only one day old and weighing less than three kilograms, this was an extremely high-risk operation," said Wang. "But the teamwork and precision ensured a new lease of life for the child."
