Bambino Gesu: Surgery to Rescue a Baby Born in the 25th Week
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Olga Sakun – Vatican City
The Bambino Gesu Vatican Hospital underwent a successful operation to close the Botallo duct in an infant born in the 25th week of pregnancy.
The newborn arrived at the clinic in critical condition after ineffective treatment attempts. It only weighed 730 grams. After staying in the neonatological intensive care unit, upon reaching a weight of 1200 grams, a team of doctors – cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, neonatologists and radiologists – performed a minimally invasive operation lasting about half an hour on January 22nd, introducing the thinnest catheter with a diameter of 1 mm. In this way, a more invasive and dangerous surgical procedure was avoided.
The baby, already a few hours after the operation, breathed on his own, his kidney and intestinal functions were restored, and he could feed on breast milk, gaining about 700 grams in weight in 4 weeks. The baby left the hospital on the exact day of the expected due date.
