36-Hour Old Baby Undergoes Heart Op

Doctors at a Birmingham hospital performed an open heart surgery on one of the youngest children in Britain after successfully conducting the operation on a baby that was just 36 hours old. Rudy Maxwell-Jones suffered from a condition known as critical aortic stenosis in which the heart is swollen since blood is not being pumped out properly because of blocked aortic valve. He was brought to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital three weeks early for the surgery and the doctors successfully managed to unblock the valve.

Rudy’s mother, Jeanette Shiel said that they came to know that something was wrong with the baby 32 weeks into the pregnancy and initially they thought that nothing could be done to save the baby’s life.

“Then, after a second scan, our heart specialist was really honest with us and explained that although it was very serious, there was something they could do. It was great news and it gave us hope that Rudy might survive”, Ms Shiel said, adding that Rudy was now able to breathe without the aid of any machines.


Source-Medindia