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A premature baby boy weighing only 1.7 kilograms underwent surgery for congenital heart problems at Shanghai Children's Medical Center earlier this week, making him the smallest child ever to undergo such a procedure in China.

 

Doctors said yesterday the surgery was a success, and the boy is in stable condition. He was taken off of a respiratory machine yesterday.

 

The boy, the younger of a set of twins, was born in a hospital in his hometown in Zhejiang Province on November 21, about eight weeks early.

 

His elderly sister was healthy at birth, but the boy had serious heart problems. He was transferred to the Shanghai Children's six days later and placed in the intensive care unit.

 

"We wanted him to grow bigger and stronger for the surgery, which is too risky for such a small, premature infant. Babies lighter than 2.5 kilograms are considered under-developed," said Dr. Xu Zhiwei of the center's cardiovascular surgery department. "We did the surgery two weeks later, since he stopped growing due to the heart problem. If the deformation wasn't fixed, he could die from heart failure."

 

Doctors said the boy's disease is the most serious and complicated type, involving both the two main arteries.

 

Doctors conducted the surgery on Monday. It is a complicated and risky operation, since the boy's heart is smaller than a pigeon egg. Doctors finished the process within four hours to avoid further injury to the boy's inner organs.

 

Medical experts said congenital heart disease affects about six to eight of every 1,000 newborns. Half of children with serious heart diseases die within one month of delivery, as diseases are often not found until it is too late.

 

"It is important to promote ultrasound exams on a fetus' heart during pregnancy," Xu said. "If heart disease is detected early, doctors can provide surgery or other medical intervention when the child is born. If so, the morality rate can be controlled within 10 percent."

 

Ultrasound exams are still not popular in the city, as few people are aware of their importance. Heart disease can be detected in fetuses after the sixth month of pregnancy.

 

Doctors in the city are currently doing animal testing on fixing heart problems in a fetus while it is still in its mother's womb.

 

(Shanghai Daily December 24, 2005)