A 2-month-old Yunnan baby had 5 heart abnormalities and was given a new life after seeking medical treatment in Shanghai

From Lijiang, Yunnan to Shanghai, and then back to Lijiang, 26 days of seeking medical treatment, 5,500 kilometers round trip, from west to east, from the head of the Yangtze River to the tail of the Yangtze River, confirmed Jin Jin's road to survival. In September, the waves at the source of the Jinsha River welcomed the baby boy's return home.

With a weak cry and cyanotic face, Jinjin (pseudonym), a 2-month-old baby with congenital heart disease, has faced the test of life and death before he has even had a good look at the world. Recently, the Heart Center of Shanghai Medical University Hospital successfully performed a radical operation for tetralogy of Fallot and closure of foramen ovale on a 2-month-old baby with congenital heart disease, challenging the limits of life and creating a miracle of life. On the occasion of 912 Birth Defect Prevention Day, doctors remind us that we need to do a good job of level 3 prevention, and whether the fetus has congenital heart disease can be found at 18-22 weeks of pregnancy.

2-month-old Yunnan baby has 5 heart abnormalities and is in critical condition

With a weak cry and cyanotic face, Jinjin (pseudonym), a 2-month-old baby with congenital heart disease, faced the test of life and death before he had a good look at the world. Jinjin was found to have a heart murmur and showed "cyanosis" symptoms after birth. He was fine if he didn't cry, but he would immediately turn into a "purple baby" if he cried or moved a little. He had difficulty feeding and could only "eat small meals frequently", and his development was slow. The birth examination showed: tetralogy of Fallot and patent foramen ovale.

Tetralogy of Fallot is a serious congenital heart disease, including pulmonary artery stenosis, ventricular septal defect, aortic co-rotation and right ventricular hypertrophy. The disease can easily cause chronic hypoxia in the body, increasing red blood cells, leading to secondary myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure. If children with tetralogy of Fallot have symptoms such as hypoxia, they need surgical correction as soon as possible.

However, due to the limitations of local medical technology and family economic level, Jinjin's surgery became the biggest problem for the family.

"Mini" heart repair: Doctors perform tricks on "pigeon egg heart" like "carving words on the tip of a needle"

In the time of crisis, the doctor at the local hospital told Jin Jin's family that there was a hospital in Shanghai that might be able to save the child! Later, the Medical University Hospital's congenital heart disease public welfare treatment project team learned about Jin Jin's family's financial situation and said: "Our public welfare treatment project team will help to bear the cost of this patient's surgery!"

Jinjin weighs only 4 kilograms, with a small heart the size of a pigeon egg and a coronary artery less than 1 millimeter in diameter. To perform delicate surgery on such a small heart, the surgical team used "mini" surgical tools, and the sutures were thinner than a hair, so every step was a step of treading on thin ice.

"Mini" heart repair: After comprehensive preoperative preparation, Li Baojun, director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, performed the operation. The team members worked in harmony to establish extracorporeal circulation and "meticulously carve" on the pigeon egg-sized heart, "moving" the misplaced arteries, transplanting the misplaced blood vessels, correcting the deformities one by one, restoring normal blood flow, and repairing the hole in the ventricular septum. After a 3-hour operation, the heart beat again, the lungs began to breathe, and Jin Jin's "mini" heart was successfully repaired!

Because the child was too young and the operation was complicated, the ICU medical team monitored Jin Jin's vital signs 24 hours a day after the operation, and the medical staff carefully used medication and fed him. On the sixth day after the operation, Jin Jin was finally successfully removed from the ventilator and transferred back to the general ward.

A child with congenital heart disease traveled over 5,000 miles to Shanghai for medical treatment and was given a new life

"Thank you for giving my child a second life! When he learns to speak, I will tell him, 'It was Shanghai Medical University Hospital that saved you.'" Jin Jin's father said gratefully to the medical staff while holding Jin Jin who was about to be discharged from the hospital.

When they learned that the family was worried about the tickets to return to Lijiang, the Shanghai Medical University Congenital Heart Disease Charity Project Team "quietly" solved the problem of return tickets for them. A staff member of the Shanghai Medical University Congenital Heart Disease Charity Project Team said: "In fact, these are the normal procedures of our hospital's congenital heart disease charity treatment project. We hope that every child can grow up healthily, and treatment should not be delayed due to (insufficient) money." Since June 2022, Shanghai Medical University Hospital's "Heart Protection Action" has treated more than 1,000 congenital heart disease patients for charity.

From Lijiang, Yunnan to Shanghai, and then back to Lijiang, 30 days of seeking medical treatment, 5,500 kilometers round trip, from west to east, from the head of the Yangtze River to the tail of the Yangtze River, confirmed Jin Jin's road to survival. In September, the waves at the source of the Jinsha River welcomed the baby boy's return home.

912 Birth Defect Prevention Day: Whether the fetus has congenital heart disease can be detected at 18-22 weeks of pregnancy

September 12, 2023 is the 19th "China Birth Defect Prevention Day". Epidemiological surveys have found that the incidence of congenital heart disease in newborns (live births) in my country is 7‰-10‰, with an average of one child with congenital heart disease born every 3.25 minutes. It is the leading cause of birth defects in my country. Children's health needs to start with understanding congenital heart disease and actively preventing birth defects.

In order to prevent the occurrence of congenital heart disease in newborns and reduce the birth defect rate of the Chinese population, the country has implemented three levels of prevention measures. Primary prevention refers to comprehensive intervention before and during early pregnancy, reducing the occurrence of fetal malformations through health education, pre-pregnancy care, and avoiding contact with radioactive toxic and harmful substances. Secondary prevention refers to the identification of severe congenital defects of the fetus through pregnancy screening and prenatal diagnosis, early detection, and early intervention to reduce the birth of defective children. Tertiary prevention is for early screening, early diagnosis, and timely intervention and treatment of neonatal diseases.

"Congenital heart disease is not a terminal illness." Li Baojun, director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Shanghai Medical University Hospital, said that the best time for prenatal fetal cardiac ultrasound examination is 18-22 weeks of pregnancy. According to clinical data, most congenital heart diseases are not related to genetics, but may be caused by viral infection or other reasons in the first three months of pregnancy. In the first three months of pregnancy, if a woman catches a cold, has a high fever, takes antibiotics or other drugs, is exposed to toxic chemicals such as pesticides, is under great stress, or is exposed to radiation for a long time, it may increase the risk of congenital heart disease in the fetus. After the child is born, if the lips are black and purple, breathing is rapid, development is poor, and the child is prone to colds, he or she should go to a qualified hospital in time to check for congenital heart disease and intervene in treatment.