Key points
- At NDSL Okhmatdyt, a 9-month-old girl from Moldova was saved after complications following cardiac surgery.
- The child suffered an intracerebral haemorrhage with the development of hydrocephalus.
- She spent nearly three weeks in intensive care with ECMO support.
- Doctors carried out several stages of neurosurgical treatment and implanted a shunt system with a programmable valve.
- Around 40 specialists from various fields were involved in her treatment.
- After one and a half months of care, the child was discharged home for further rehabilitation.
At the Kyiv children’s hospital Okhmatdyt, doctors saved 9-month-old Yeva from Moldova, who had come to Ukraine to the Centre for Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery for treatment of a congenital heart defect.
During one of the cardiac surgery procedures, the child suffered an intracerebral haemorrhage, resulting in a large haematoma and the development of hydrocephalus, which led to a sharp deterioration in her condition.
According to NCSH Okhmatdyt, at the time of admission the girl was in an extremely critical state. She experienced seizures and episodes of respiratory arrest, requiring mechanical ventilation and intensive care.
For nearly three weeks, the child remained in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care with ECMO beds, where doctors stabilised her condition and prepared her for neurosurgical intervention.
After stabilisation, Yeva was transferred to the neurosurgery department. The first stage involved removing a large infected intracerebral haematoma that was compressing the brain. Due to the presence of infection, the installation of a shunt system was postponed until the infectious focus had been fully cleared.
Once the infection was eliminated, doctors implanted a shunt system with a programmable valve and antibacterial catheters. This intervention was critically important, as the girl had previously suffered from sepsis and faced an extremely high risk of infectious complications.
The programmable valve made it possible to individually adjust the intracranial pressure, taking into account her complex cardiac history, accompanying gastrointestinal issues, epilepsy and seizure disorder.
– Pavlo Plavskyi, Head of the Neurosurgery Department.
Around 40 specialists from various fields were involved in her treatment, including neurosurgeons, intensive care physicians, radiologists, infectious disease specialists, neurologists, endocrinologists and haemostasis experts.
The necessary materials for the operations were purchased with the support of the charity organisation Charitable Organisation “Mama i Nemovlia”, which made it possible to carry out the treatment in full and without delay.
After approximately one and a half months in hospital, the girl was discharged and returned home to continue her recovery.
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