Tuesday, 19th February 2013
Platts & Nisbett is proud to support the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF), by providing surgical instruments for their mission trips around the world. [read more]
Archives for February 2013
A Flat World, Full Hearts….Facebook, Globalization and Technology come together to Mend Baby’s Hearts
ICHF receives thousands of requests for assistance from parents of children with congenital heart defects all over the world. Babyheart Volunteer OR Nurse, Becca Davenport, had the opportunity to sit with one of these parents and hear her inspirational story of how a group of people from different parts of the world came together to save her child.
Last October, we received a request from Corazones Guerreros Unidos (Heart Warriors United), a Facebook support group for Latin American families of children with congenital heart defects. They had a mother in Ecuador whose two year old daughter was given little to no chance of living because of her multiple heart defects. When Paula was born, she suffered from a small heart murmur. A few months later, Paula’s parents were informed that the heart murmur was even more pronounced and that their baby’s blue-tinged skin color was a sign of low-oxygenated blood. Paula would need an echocardiogram in order to determine her condition. After an agonizing wait, the echocardiogram result’s arrived. Unfortunately, they revealed that Paula suffered from multiple heart defects, several holes in the septum of her heart, and consequently pulmonary hypertension. In the United States these defects are fairly easy to treat if detected by doctors early enough, and subsequently done when the baby is very small. However, in Ecuador there are no resources for children to undergo the necessary cardiac surgery to fix these issues, and thus the doctors treating Paula had nothing positive to tell her parents, only that there was no hope for their daughter.
Paula’s mother was especially distraught to hear that their child’s doctors had nothing to offer them, and it was at this time that she decided to take matters into her own hands. Paula’s parents invested many long hours pouring over the internet, desperate to find someone who could help the young girl. It was a few months after the search that the Facebook support group for Latin American families heard of ICHF. They were astounded to find a non-profit organization that performs life-saving cardiac surgeries all over the world, and even in their country of Ecuador! With the help of the friend from the group as a translator, Paula’s parents were able to communicate with the ICHF, and they were nothing short of persistent, as they knew this might be the only organization able to save their baby’s life.
After reviewing Paula’s medical records, Paula’s family was advised to bring their daughter to the Hospital del Nino Dr. Francisco de Ycaza Bustamante for our next Babyheart mission to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Two months after initially contacting the International Children’s Heart Foundation, Paula and her family undertook the 7 hour trek (via bus) to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where surgeons would be able to fix their baby’s heart. At last, the little girl received her life-saving heart surgery, courtesy of ICHF and the volunteers that make it possible. Surgeons repaired the child’s atrial septal defect and multiple ventricular septal defects (holes in the septum of the inner heart chambers). Two days in the ICU, a few more up on the recovery floor, and Paula was well on her way to healthy new start on life.
Paula’s mother was in tears at the end of the interview. She later said that she was not able to communicate in words the magnitude of the International Children’s Heart Foundation impact on her family’s life. She says that she feels forever indebted to the organization, and the medical professionals who have been able to save her baby’s life. Thank you to the donors and supporters, even if she will never be able to thank them in person.
En español: Un mundo plano, Corazones completo …. Facebook, la globalización y la tecnología se unen para reparar los corazones del bebé
ICHF recibe miles de solicitudes de asistencia de los padres de niños con defectos congénitos del corazón en todo el mundo. Voluntarios Babyheart OR enfermera, Becca Davenport, tuvo la oportunidad de sentarse con uno de estos padres y escuchar su historia inspiradora de cómo un grupo de personas de diferentes partes del mundo se unieron para salvar a su hijo.
En octubre pasado, recibimos una solicitud de Guerreros Corazones Unidos, un grupo de apoyo de Facebook para las familias latinoamericanas de niños con defectos congénitos del corazón. Tenían una madre en Ecuador cuyas dos años mi hija se le dio poca o ninguna posibilidad de vivir a causa de sus múltiples defectos cardiacos. Cuando Paula nació, sufrió de un pequeño soplo en el corazón. Unos meses más tarde, los padres de Paula fueron informados de que el soplo del corazón es aún más pronunciado y que su bebé azul teñido de color de la piel es un signo de baja oxigenada sangre. Paula necesitaría un ecocardiograma para determinar su estado. Después de una angustiosa espera, el resultado ecocardiograma ha llegado. Por desgracia, reveló que Paula sufría de múltiples defectos cardiacos, varios agujeros en el tabique de su corazón y la hipertensión pulmonar en consecuencia. En los Estados Unidos estos defectos son bastante fáciles de tratar si se detecta a tiempo por los médicos, y posteriormente se realiza cuando el bebé es muy pequeño. Sin embargo, en Ecuador no hay recursos para que los niños se someten a la cirugía cardíaca sea necesaria para solucionar estos problemas, por lo que los médicos que tratan a Paula tenía nada positivo que decir a sus padres, sólo que no había esperanza para su hija.
La madre de Paula fue especialmente consternado al saber que los médicos de su hijo no tenía nada que ofrecer, y fue en ese momento que decidió tomar el asunto en sus propias manos. Los padres de Paula invertido muchas horas que vierten sobre el Internet, desesperado por encontrar a alguien que pudiera ayudar a la joven. Fue unos meses después de la búsqueda que el grupo de apoyo de Facebook para las familias latinoamericanas oído hablar de ICHF. Ellos fueron sorprendidos al encontrar una organización sin fines de lucro que lleva a cabo para salvar vidas cirugías cardiacas en todo el mundo, e incluso en su país de Ecuador! Con la ayuda del amigo del grupo como un traductor, los padres de Paula fueron capaces de comunicarse con el ICHF, y eran nada menos persistente, ya que sabían que esto podría ser la única organización capaz de ahorrar la vida de su bebé.
Después de revisar los registros médicos de Paula, la familia de Paula se aconseja llevar a su hija al Hospital del Niño Dr. Francisco de Ycaza Bustamante para nuestra misión Babyheart junto a Guayaquil, Ecuador. Dos meses después de que inicialmente contacto con International Children’s Heart Foundation, Paula y su familia emprendieron la caminata horas 7 (en autobús) a Guayaquil, Ecuador, donde los cirujanos sería capaz de solucionar el corazón de su bebé. Por fin, la niña recibió su vida para salvar la cirugía cardiaca, cortesía de ICHF y los voluntarios que lo hacen posible. Los cirujanos repararon el niño defecto del tabique auricular y múltiples defectos septales ventriculares (agujeros en el septo de las cámaras del corazón interiores). Dos días en la UCI, un poco más arriba de la planta de recuperación y Paula estaba bien en su manera de nuevo comienzo saludable en la vida.
La madre de Paula estaba llorando al final de la entrevista. Más tarde dijo que ella no era capaz de comunicarse con palabras la magnitud del impacto International Children’s Heart Foundation en la vida de su familia. Ella dice que ella se siente siempre en deuda con la organización, y los profesionales médicos que han sido capaces de salvar la vida de su bebé. Gracias a los donantes y simpatizantes, aunque ella nunca será capaz de darles las gracias en persona.
Fourteen Years of Humanitarian Pediatric Cardiac Assistance
This medically oriented academic article introduces the ICHF, the methods used, statistical results and challenges of doing pediatric cardiac surgery in developing countries. For the full article, go to EP Lab Digest.
Training Medical Professionals in Developing Countries
Educational opportunities provided by the ICHF for foreign pediatric cardiac health care providers primarily occur during our mission trips abroad. However, a number of individuals have received extended training at our hospital affiliate sites in the US and South America. Providing education, training and experience the ICHF strives to create local teams in each of the countries we assist.
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The volunteer staff of the ICHF works side by side with our foreign colleagues in the operating room, the cardiac catheterization, echo-cardiology laboratories and in the intensive care unit. We believe that this direct method of providing education, training and experience is the most beneficial. Additionally, ICHF staff provides didactic lectures on each trip. The local team is encouraged to choose the topics in advance of our arrival. As of 2005, we have trained 300 ICU nurses and 200 doctors (perfusionists, anesthesiologists, intensivists, cardiologists and surgeons) in eleven countries.
A number of healthcare professionals have received educational scholarships for study aboard in the US or other sister sites.
[table style=”1″]
|
Year |
Number |
Countries |
|
1994 |
3 |
Croatian MDs to USA, 6 months |
|
1995 |
4 |
Ukrainian MDs and 3 Nurses to USA, 6 months |
|
1996 |
1 |
Ukrainian MD to USA, 6 months |
|
1997 |
4 |
Kazakh MDs and 3 Nurses to USA, 6 months |
|
1998 |
2 |
Byelorussian MDs to USA, 6 months |
|
1999 |
1 |
Bosnian MD and 1 Technician to USA, 3 months |
|
2000 |
1 |
Nepalese MD to USA, 6 months |
|
2001 |
1 |
Peruvian MD to USA, 6months |
|
2002 |
1 |
Nicaraguan MD to Peru, 6 months |
[/table]
Starting in 2000, we added another component to our educational program and invited Foreign Healthcare professionals previously trained by the ICHF on our mission trips. We have been able to expand their educational opportunities utilizing this unique program.
ICHF Clinical Research in Developing Countries
The ability to perform research suggests that a facility is interested in advancing itself. In most of the countries ICHF serves, the facilities and funds necessary for basic research are simply not available to carry out research projects.
ICHF therefore encourages clinical research projects at all the sites it assists. A number of the sites ICHF visits are enrolled in clinical research studies initiated by the ICHF. The clinical research projects are related to improving the care provided to children with heart disease in the countries it assists. Engaging medical colleagues in research projects is one of the processes ICHF uses to stimulate further education and self-evaluation; thus promoting grown in these areas. Listed here is a sampling of the research projects conducted by ICHF. For further information, please contact our Medical Director Dr. Soto
Research Project: Double Flap Patch Ventricular (DFV) Septal Defect Closure technique
The ICHF pioneered the DFV technique specifically to treat children with pulmonary hypertension who had previously been denied an operation because of the high mortality associated with closing these defects.
The technique is now used world wide. The results of using this technique have been presented at a number of major international and national cardiac surgery conferences. The articles was published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, January 2005, originally published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, November 1998.
Research Project: Ultra-fast Recovery following pediatric cardiac surgery
Since January 1999 ICHF has used and encouraged the use of ultra-fast recovery of children after cardiac surgery at all visited sites. The benefits of this approach are decreased complications, shorter stay in the ICU and a decrease in expenses locally. ICHF has presented these results at a number of international meetings and published in Cardiovascular Engineering.
Research Project: Alternatives to homografts for Right Ventricular to Pulmonary Artery reconstruction
Homografts are necessary to reconstruct the connection between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery in a number of defects in children. ICHF is investigating alternative, since homografts are rarely available in the countries we assist. This article is published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, May 2004.
Research Project: Arterial Switch Operation for Children Presenting Late
The best time to perform pediatric heart surgery is as soon as possible after a child is born. Most children in developing countries are not lucky enough to have an ICHF medical team onsite at birth. Most are diagnosed several weeks to a month later. ICHF has entered into a multinational, multi-institutional study to determine what criteria will allow for operations after 21 days of age. The countries involved are India, Belarus, Colombia and Ukraine. The results were presented at the Fourth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and cardiac Surgery in Buenos Aires in September, 2005.
In the medically advanced countries, children with a condition known as transposition of the great arteries (TGA) received corrective surgery within the first two weeks of life. However, in many developing countries, these children are not diagnosed until they are several weeks of ages. Historically, the risk of surgery has been much higher at this age.
Research Project: Anomalous Left Coronary from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA)
ICHF has developed a unique operation for this extremely rare malformation that enables surgeons with little experience to perform a corrective procedure at low risk. The work was presented at the World Congress of International Cardiovascular Surgery in Beijing, China in January 2005 and in Lahore, Pakistan in March 2005 at the First International congress on Pediatric Cardiology and cardiac Surgery in Emerging Societies. Dr. Novick performed this surgery during the congress.
Anomalous left coronary from the pulmonary artery is a rare congenital heart defect. The ICHF has operated on 10 (as of 2005) such children. The technique is now used in at least three countries.
