Heart-healthy initiative: Rebirth of 23 lives

Little Talal is the quintessential Destiny's Child. Born at the private International Modern Hospital in Dubai on June 16, he went blue on his very first night of life. Investigations revealed that the two main arteries carrying blood away from his heart were transposed, which meant his oxygen levels were abysmally low (see box). "It was a big shock. We did not know if our baby would make it," said his father Karim Bizri, a Lebanese resident of Sharjah. He was told chances of Talal's survival were bleak if an arterial switch surgery was not immediately performed. As luck would have it, a team of paediatric cardiac specialists from Italy happened to be in town. They were visiting Dubai Hospital for a joint cardiac project. Talal's medical report was faxed to them, following which they visited him at the private hospital. The little boy was subsequently shifted to Dubai Hospital where a complex surgery to switch his arteries was conducted, just 12 days after his birth. When XPRESS visited the little one in the ICU the following day, the doctors said he was making good progress. The five-hour operation on the 3.2kg baby was successful. It was a complex and delicate surgery that required accuracy and precision with the help of a bypass machine, said Dr Obaid Al Jasem, Head of Cardiology at Dubai Hospital. Such arterial switches have to be done within a week or two of birth or the child can die, he said. Talal, as it turns out, wasn't the only one to be saved. Like him, 22 other children with different heart complications also got a fresh lease of life in the last fortnight, thanks to a series of open heart surgeries and catherisation procedures conducted at Dubai Hospital. The surgeries, some of which could otherwise cost up to Dh200,000, were conducted free or at a nominal charge under a heart-healthy initiative of Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment. "We successfully performed 11 open heart surgeries and 12 catherisation procedures, but the arterial switch was the most complicated," said Dr Al Jasem, adding that the cases were selected on the basis of medical and other evaluations. To mark the dramatic turnaround, an exclusive party was held for these kids and their parents at Dubai Hospital on Tuesday. It was a moment to pause and celebrate life as they sought to put their traumatic past behind them. "I feel very good," said Eman Mirza Mohammad Shahid, 6, as she played with the cartoon characters at the party. Her mother, Ruksana, a Pakistani resident of Ras Al Khaimah, said Eman underwent a stent surgery last week as one of her main arteries was blocked. This was her second time as she had to get a hole in the main artery covered three years ago, said Ruksana. But the worst is over, she added, thankful that the operation was free of cost. Sharjah-based Dickson Baby, father of four-and-half-year-old Hanah Luciene, said his daughter was diagnosed with a hole in the heart when she was six months old. "All this while, we were waiting for her to gain weight so we could get her operated," he said. The family wanted to take Luciene to India for treatment given the prohibitive costs of treatment here. But in a happy coincidence, Luciene's weight reached 12.8kg, close to the required 13kg when her case was evaluated by doctors at Dubai Hospital. Everything fell into place, said Baby, noting that his daughter underwent an open heart surgery free of cost last Thursday. With word about the heart-healthy initiative spreading, referrals come from different hospitals. And the ease with which the procedures followed provided much-needed succour to the families. Asma Nasser, mother of Mousa, 7, said she was consulting Al Wasl Hospital for her son who was diagnosed with coronary dilated lesions following Kawasaki disease four years ago. A catherisation procedure was recommended and he was referred to Dubai Hospital during the current visit of the Italian doctors. "Everything was so easy. We just came here for a check-up and they did the procedure on him last Sunday," she said. It's the same story with Zahrah, 3, from Abu Dhabi, who underwent an open heart surgery for a hole in her heart last Wednesday. "Everything went very well," said her mother Tabassum. Salma Masoudi, an Emirati, said the Al Baraha Hospital where her four-month-old daughter Alia was born, referred her to Dubai Hospital after she was diagnosed with a hole in the heart. An open heart surgery was performed on her last Sunday. The team of visiting cardiac specialists from the Bambini Cardiopatici Nel Mondo in Italy is on its second visit to Dubai to conduct paediatric open heart surgeries and catherisation procedures. "The transposition of great arteries (TGA) which was conducted on the 12-day-old baby was a great achievement for us and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA)," said Dr Alessandro Frigiola, Chief of Cardiac Surgery. Dr Shahrban Abdullah Al Shari, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at Al Wasl Hospital, who is part of the DHA initiative, said such arterial switch anomalies are rare, with only three-four cases detected annually. Other heart diseases like hole in the heart or Atrial Septal Defects (ASD) are more common. Dr Al Jasem said 230 children have been covered under the heart-healthy initiative since its inception in 2007. He said Dubai Hospital holds three to four drives every year to conduct such paediatric cardiac surgeries. Those wishing to register children for evaluation for upcoming drives can call the hospital at 04-219 5643 or 04- 219 5828. From / Gulf News