Durban - An Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (Ecmo) machine was used for the first time at a provincial government hospital in KwaZulu-Natal during a heart operation carried out on a 10-year-old boy.
The surgery took place at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
The KZN Health head of department Dr Sandile Tshabalala said the report that they received from one of the cardiac surgeons involved, Dr Sanvir Maharaj, was that Siyabonga Mthethwa presented with a large hole in his heart, and also had a problem of abnormal heart valves. Medically, this is known as a “primum atrial septal defect”.
“As a result of this, his growth and development was adversely affected. And he could not participate in much physical activity without feeling excessively tired.
“Under normal circumstances, this medical condition is surgically corrected when children are much younger, usually between 3 and 5 years old, at this hospital.
“However, despite the late presentation to our facility, the patient was still assessed and deemed suitable for surgery,” Tshabalala said.
He added that the only chance of survival for the patient was through usage of a machine, the Ecmo , which costs in the region of R1.5 million.
The department said the Ecmo is a type of artificial life support that can help a person whose lungs and heart aren’t functioning correctly.
The Ecmo process continuously pumps blood out of a person’s body, and sends it through a series of devices that add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
The operation was carried out on July 11.
Siyabonga’s aunt, Nokuphila Mthethwa, said it was important to monitor children’s behaviour as she had been surprised by his condition.
“I only knew of his condition in April this year. I started noticing problems when he would cry about pain in his chest and would not play for long as his breathing levels would change. If he had the flu he would take long to fully recover from it.
“We took him to our local hospital which transferred us to Chief Albert. I was then told that he needs to be booked in for surgery as this is a life-and-death situation.
“I was very anxious but told myself I would do anything to have him healthy once more. And I am grateful for the support I got from the staff here and for them saving him,” she said.
Dr Manogran Moopanar, head of the Clinical Unit of Cardiothoracic Surgery, said that this was a first-of-its-kind surgery at a public health facility in KZN and it took them 10 hours to accomplish.
“When we first saw the boy, we knew he had to have the operation as soon as possible. We are glad that we had a successful surgery and hope we can help more families who need our services,” he said.
Tshabalala said they were proud of the work done by the team of doctors.
“When we heard of this special kind of surgery, we had to see it at first glance. We were happy that our team, being the first in the province, has done very well.
“We are glad that the family can rest assured that their child can now live a healthy and focused life at school without being worried about his health.
“As a province, we look forward to working closely with the team as we perform more surgeries of this nature,” he said.