The 2-year-old child has undergone heart surgery three times.

Born with a particularly complex congenital heart defect and undergoing three major surgeries in his first two years of life, two-year-old GB (from Phu Tho province) has had his heart successfully reconstructed into a double ventricle, allowing him to develop normally.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ly Thinh Truong analyzes images of the heart structure of children after surgery - Photo: Provided by the hospital.

The child was hospitalized in critical condition.

According to doctors at the National Children's Hospital, baby B. was admitted as a newborn with a complex congenital heart defect: aortic atresia, meaning the heart has only one ventricle (normal hearts have two ventricles).

However, the child's left ventricle still has an opening to the right ventricle, so even though the aorta is atrophied, the left ventricular chamber can still develop.

However, at that time, due to the child's critical condition, after two days of hospitalization, the doctors at the hospital's Cardiovascular Center quickly decided to perform the Norwood-Sano surgery to reshape the aorta, directly connecting the aorta to the ventricle, along with a catheter between the aorta and the pulmonary artery to save the child's life.

This is one of the highest-risk heart surgeries performed in the neonatal period. Following the surgery, the child's condition has stabilized.

Five months after the Norwood-Sano surgery, the child was re-evaluated, showing that the left ventricle had developed relatively well and had the potential to become a systemic left ventricle (the main chamber that pumps blood into the systemic circulation).

However, the child's pulmonary artery was quite narrow, so the doctors decided to first surgically replace the duct connecting the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery with a larger one, hoping that the pulmonary artery could develop.

This was B.'s second surgery, and a crucial one that opened up the possibility of repairing the heart using a dual-ventricular approach, instead of the single-ventricular strategy.

At 17 months of age, the patient was re-examined and assessed to have fairly good pulmonary artery size development, although the internal structure presented significant challenges in reshaping the heart to a normal biventricular heart (due to the considerable distance from the left ventricle to the patient's new aorta).

The pediatric patient was examined and closely monitored according to a multi-stage treatment strategy - BVCC.

Perseverance is key to bringing healthy hearts to children.

After numerous expert consultations, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ly Thinh Truong, Director of the Cardiovascular Center, and his team remained determined to perform surgery to repair the child's small heart.

"This third surgery was very difficult and challenging, lasting over 12 hours. Thanks to the efforts of the doctors and nurses and the seamless multidisciplinary coordination, the surgery was successful, and the child's heart structure has returned to normal with two complete ventricles and two complete atria," Associate Professor Dr. Truong, who directly performed all three surgeries for the child, happily shared.

Currently, B. is able to live, eat, and develop like other normal children.

In the future, the child will still need regular monitoring and may require tube replacement as they grow, however these are simpler interventions, foreseeable, and part of the doctors' management plan.

"After three surgeries, my child's heart has now been completely repaired, and my family is very happy. Recalling the 12 hours we waited outside the operating room, when Dr. Truong came out and announced that the surgery had gone smoothly, my whole family burst into tears of emotion."

"You doctors are the ones who gave my child a second life. Today, my child can eat, sleep, is healthy, and smiles a lot. I'm so happy," the child's mother shared, her voice choked with emotion.

According to Associate Professor Truong, complex congenital heart defects like baby GB's carry a high risk of death from infancy if not treated promptly. Therefore, as long as there is even a very small chance of restoring the heart to its biventricular state, doctors are making every effort to achieve long-term surgical effectiveness and a better quality of life for the child.

WILLOW

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/em-be-2-tuoi-da-duoc-phau-thuat-tim-3-lan-20260130200130963.htm