The First Pericardial Aortic Valve Balloon Dilation Operation of Newborn in China was Completed in ZCH

Fan Xiangming, Director of the Cardiac Surgery Department at Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, received a photo from a patient's mother on Jan. 12. "The child was about to give up, but we finally saved him through our efforts, and we are very relieved," he said.

This operation is one of the most difficult operations completed by the Heart Center of the hospital in recent years. It is also the first balloon dilatation of the apical aortic valve in light weight newborns in China.

The patient was born prematurely at 35 gestational weeks, weighing only 2.3kg at birth, with an interrupted aortic arch and a large ventricular septal defect, a condition that has a 75 percent mortality rate among newborns and is especially difficult for low-weight children like him. The child was diagnosed with cardiac abnormalities in her mother's belly. After birth, he was diagnosed with a variety of symptoms such as severed aortic arch, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus. It can be said that the situation is one of the worst estimates, and the operation is very difficult and risky.

When the child arrived at the hospital, the surgical team showed respect to the family's opinion and go for it. With the trust and support of their parents, the cardiovascular intervention team led by Director Wang Wei and Director Fan Xiangming's team decided to make a brave attempt: The operation of transcapical aortic valve balloon dilation for newborns was an unprecedented attempt in China. (With the child weighing only 2.6kg, the child should weigh at least 3kg for the traditional transfemoral approach.)

Director Wang Wei said that as a Mosaic operation of cardiology and cardiac surgery, the transcapical aortic valve balloon dilatation operation involves and brings together the collaboration between multiple departments and the joint efforts of multiple professional experts.

Director Fan Xiangming added that the success of the operation can not be separated from two reasons: first, the departments of cardiology and cardiology surgery highly integrated, with cooperation of multidisciplinary teams (MDT), to reduce trauma and improve the success rate of treatment; second, the MDT team dares to try first and challenge the technical ceiling to carry out the first case in China.