Odesa doctors performed heart surgery on a prematurely born child

Doctors at the Odessa Regional Children's Clinical Hospital performed heart surgery on a child who was born weighing only 660 grams. This information was reported by the press service of the Department of Health of the Odessa Regional State Administration.

The child was born at 25 weeks of pregnancy and required surfactant replacement therapy. She was on artificial lung ventilation. Due to her extreme prematurity and low birth weight, the arterial duct, which normally closes after birth and provides blood circulation in the fetus, did not close in the baby. The functioning of this duct after birth significantly worsened the child's condition and could lead to the infant's death, as mentioned in the report.

The treatment of this child is complicated not only by her extremely low birth weight and prematurity but also by the presence of severe concurrent pathologies, including massive intraventricular hemorrhages in the lateral ventricles of the brain and the development of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus, as noted by the doctors.

Despite all the challenging circumstances, based on medical indications, emergency surgery was performed in the resuscitation room of the neonatal and premature baby intensive care unit. The child underwent the operation, and the functioning arterial duct was ligated.

"The child's condition has stabilized, but she still faces many challenges on her path to recovery," explained the Department's press service.