December 1, 2002, I had little exposure to heart disease, but only after 10 days, and the children were the intensive care unit (dubbed) out of bed for our newborn in need of rescue heart open.
While that is well known for very many diseases, the following barely known facts:
Heart defects • present in 1 to 100 children
• heart disease in children is the leading cause of death among children in Australia for 30% of the accounts of all child deaths.
• Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease compared with all types of cancer in childhood
• In 80% of cases, the cause is largely unknown.
The amazing thing is how medicine and surgery may offer to allow a second chance for many children like ours, 20 years ago would not have survived.
Although there are many different distortions that may occur, and must rebuild our newborn narrowing of the aortic arch, and the rebuilding of both aortic and mitral valves close the septal defect (VSD).
The mitral valves and aortic anatomy and narrow valves a bit different and it was what it should have been. If reconstruction of the aortic valve was successful, mitral valve surgery is more complex and follow the gradient through the valve remains high leave our child with mitral stenosis (narrowing valve).
This surgery took a private 5.5 hours and the risks are high - one in ten, or a 10% chance that our son would not survive.
After the surgery is considered the next 24 hours crucial period where if problems will meet, it will probably be this period. This does not mean that after 24 hours means everything is fine and dandy. The slow recovery in our case with ten additional days in the intensive care unit for children to weaning ventilator that helps sometimes and starts breathing, as well as waiting for heart for the 'settlement' so pacemakers and other drugs are no longer necessary.
Most of the recovery period "trial and error" or more accurate monitoring and adjustments. For example, the following heart surgery patients and restrict fluids to help in the work of the heart, and try to prevent the accumulation of fluid which leads to heart failure. On the other side of the coin, however, is that the patient can find and then dried.
It is not clear whether the prior knowledge of the heart in the fetus would be better than the shock we experienced in the diagnosis, and two days after the birth of our child. In any case this is very cumbersome in our case did not end with the birth after the surgery. Is due in many cases, further surgery is necessary for us to rebuild mitral valve least another two years and further surgery with the final replacement of the mitral valve with an artificial valve.
Unknown throughout our process in many cases is when there will be a need for the next process. Of these cases, the families of young children and infants and children go day after day, week during the month, a week during the month, and sometimes years before the next call to surgery.
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