Open-heart surgery saves Guatemalan baby
Baby Nicolás García-Granados with his family following his recovery
(CNS Local Life): A toddler from Guatemala celebrated Christmas with a new chance at a normal life after surgery in a Cayman Islands hospital to correct pulmonary valve stenosis, a congenital heart defect. Nicolás García-Granados was admitted to Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI) with the serious heart condition, and immediately underwent a six-hour open-heart surgery that the hospital called “highly successful”.
Baby Nicolás was born with a rare genetic condition called Noonan Syndrome, characterised by distinctive facial features, short stature, heart defects, bone malformation, and other symptoms that affect the quality of life and the patient’s development, explained an HCCI press release.
Due to this syndrome, the baby was born with a severe pulmonary valve stenosis (narrow pulmonary valve) and he also had a hole in his heart.
“When Nicolás was born he was very pale, he was practically blue, it seemed that he didn’t get enough oxygen to his lungs, in fact he never cried,” said Carlos García-Granados, the baby’s father.
Nicolás underwent his first intervention in Guatemala, a catheterisation to dilate the pulmonary valve. However, this procedure was not successful and his doctors determined that Nicolás required delicate open-heart surgery that was unavailable in his home country.
Nicolás’ family began their journey to find a hospital that could perform his complex surgery, the release said. The options included the US (with a budget of US$250,000), Colombia, Argentina and the Cayman Islands. According to the family, the final decision wasn’t really a matter of cost – it was more “a matter of destiny”, the release said.
“Since the first contact we made with Health City, the staff was very friendly, without complications, but the decision was really made thanks to the recommendation of a friend who brought his baby to this hospital with a serious condition in his heart. The baby had a diagnosis of 72 hours to live, and here they saved his life. That’s why we decided to come to Cayman,” Nicolás’ father said.
Upon his arrival at Health City, Nicolás was evaluated by Dr Sripadh Upadhya, senior paediatric cardiologist, who confirmed the child’s serious health condition and that he needed open-heart surgery.
Dr Binoy Chattuparambil, clinical director and head of the cardiothoracic and vascular department at Health City, performed the six-hour procedure, which solved all of Nicolás’ heart problems by closing the hole in his heart and correcting the pulmonary valve stenosis.
“The procedure was highly successful. Nicolás recovered surprisingly fast. He will be able to live a normal life and will not need any other surgery in the future,” Dr Upadhya said.
In thanking Health City, Nicolás’ mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, said, “The days went by so fast that it was amazing for us to see him recover so quickly. We feel blessed to be together…We want to thank God and this hospital for all they have done for us.”
Category: Medical and Health
