PROTRUDING HEART CHILD MOVED...

PROTRUDING HEART CHILD MOVED TO KING FAISAL HOSPITAL

JEDDAH – A Saudi child who suffers from the absence of a bone in the chest cavity that protects the heart was moved Wednesday to King Faisal Specialist Hospital prior to undergoing surgery to compensate for the missing bone and place the heart inside the chest cavity.

The girl’s condition was described as stable and all other indications were normal.

Dr. Kamal Abu Rokbah, director of the Maternity Hospital in Jeddah where the girl was born, said doctors carried out a Cesarean section on the mother and special measures were taken to preserve the newborn girl’s heart, as she also suffered from a puncture in the heart atriums (chambers).

Cardiologist Laith Ahmad Mimsh said such deformities are rare and require special medical care. “Similar cases have occurred in several countries,” Mimsh said. “The heart, being outside the body, requires that the patient be isolated in a separate nursery.”

Mimsh said that operations to put the heart back in place have developed significantly in recent times. A child can now be involved in many activities without the heart being affected, as long as periodic examinations are carried out.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Oufi, a heart specialist, said the rate of children born with hearts outside of their bodies was one per four million births.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Mujeeb, surgeon, said some cases need urgent surgical intervention when the heart is unable to remain outside for prolonged periods.

“In other cases, the heart has a tissue covering and functions normally, as in the case of the four -year-old Chinese child Zan Wiyang, who has been living with his heart outside of his chest near the stomach. “You can actually see the heart beating,” Al- Mujeeb said.

Other cases include one in Halab, Syria, where a child was born with the heart outside the body and just beneath the neck, and an Indian girl who was born with her hands holding her heart, which was located between the neck and the collarbone. – Okaz/SG

Mohammad Dawood - Saudi Gazette