Doctors in Kentucky are celebrating after successfully completing a first-of-its kind surgery to save the life of a premature baby. A news release from the Norton Children’s Heart Institute, which is affiliated with the University of Louisville School of Medicine, detailed how physicians used an innovative surgery to transplant a tiny pacemaker into the infant.
According to the release, the baby was born with congenital structural heart defects and complete atrioventricular block (CCAVB), which results in a slow heart rate. It’s a condition that affects roughly one in every 22,000 infants. Traditionally, doctors would have waited until the baby was at least 4.5 to 5.5 pounds to put in the pacemaker, but they determined that any delay may have had fatal results.
“In this instance, the patient was not of the optimal size and medical/conservative management was unsuccessful, so a specially modified pediatric-sized pacemaker also known as an implantable pulse generator […]
Excerpt Sourced From: www.liveaction.org
