Premature baby gets pacemaker
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
18.05.2015 12:38
The 1.5 kg baby, born several weeks premature, is the smallest to ever get a cardiac implant in Poland.
Photo: Flickr.com/ Jun Aviles
The operation at the JPII Children’s Hospital in Katowice, was conducted on 23 March, just three weeks after baby Maks was born.
One of the biggest hurdles was finding a pacemaker small enough. The implant, which weighed only 13 grams (0.46 oz), is the smallest on the market, but was still extremely large for the little baby.
“The treatment required opening the chest cavity, sewing two silicon electrodes onto a heart the size of a walnut, and then putting them under the abdominal wall where the pacemaker itself will sit,” explained Michał Buczyński, who performed the surgery.
The operation sets a new record in Polish medicine.
“This is the smallest premature who had a pacemaker implant in Poland,” Buczyński said.
He added that the baby is feeling well and will be discharged in the coming weeks. Since the operation, the baby has gained mass and now weighs over 3 kg. (rg)
Source: PAP