Tiny baby to leave hospital after heart op
A tiny baby boy, who received surgery for serious congenital heart disease in June, was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
Doctors at the hospital faced a challenge in conducting the operation on such a small child, the Children's Hospital of Fudan University said,
The boy, whose parents had spent 10 years trying get pregnant through in vitro fertilization, was found to have heart disease during the pregnancy. Doctors said he would need surgery soon after birth.
However, the baby was born in the 30th week of pregnancy with a birth weight of just 1,070 grams.
Due to the premature delivery and his extremely low weight, his organs were not fully developed.
Doctors decided to wait until he weighed 2,000 grams to ensure safety and the boy was kept in the hospital's intensive care unit.
However, his condition deteriorated rapidly when he was three weeks old, and just 1,300 grams. Surgery was needed immediately.
Doctors performed the operation on June 16, declaring it a success after three hours.
“It is such a challenging surgery, as the tiny baby’s heart is smaller than a pigeon’s egg,” said Dr Jia Bing, director of the hospital’s heart center.
The baby boy has recovered well and now weighs 2,260 grams, meeting the requirements for him to be safely discharged from hospital.
Nurses from the Children's Hospital of Fudan University dress the baby boy on Tuesday ready for him to go home after his recovery from heart surgery.
A nurse attends to the boy who weighed just 1,070 grams when he was born prematurely.
Sleep time for the baby boy who recovered from serious heart surgery when he was just three weeks old.
