OAUTHC has done over 60 open heart repairs in the last three years —CMD

OBAFEMI Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile Ife, Osun State said it has carried out over 60 successful open heart surgeries since 2016, a feat that has brought respite to children born with defective hearts.

Chief Medical Director, OAUTHC, Ile Ife, Professor Victor Adetiloye disclosed this during the hospitals’ one-week long surgery for nine children with various heart problems at the hospital.”

Professor Adetiloye stated that since the hospital commenced these surgeries in 2016, the number of children brought to the hospital with heart problems had increased.

The don said many children with congenital heart disease die quietly at home because the cost of treatment outside Nigeria could be as much as N10 million though the hospital charges between N2 million and N3 million for the same procedure.

According to him, “Last month, we successfully had a baby with a transposed great arteries repair. That was the first case of such a heart repair in West Africa.

“The large vessels that carry blood from his heart to the lungs and to the body are improperly connected. Essentially, the connections in the heart are “swapped” or switched (transposed).

“They may say that we do not have equipment, but the equipment we have here are doing the wonders, so it is not enough to say that we do not have the equipment.

“I think people should understand that even in Nigeria, we have people that are skillful enough to do this kind of surgery. We have at least the minimum requirement to carry out these surgeries.”

Professor Adetiloye, however, called for the establishment of a foundation to support indigent children with congenital heart diseases.

He urged government to encourage Nigerians to patronise Nigerian hospitals that have skillful people for their medical care rather than travel abroad.

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According to him, “we have people that are talented too. Occasionally when they go abroad, the people that will do the operations are all Nigerians.”

Dr Uvie Onakpoya, a cardiothoracic surgeon, involved in carrying out the open heart surgeries, said eight out of a 1000 children born in Nigeria have defective hearts and will require surgery to repair them.

The surgeon said that there are different types of congenital heart diseases and its common symptoms included grayish-blue skin and lips, rapid breathing and shortness of breath during feeding, leading to poor weigh.

He stated “if a child is born blue, it is as result of a problem coming from the heart, the most common cause is Tetralogy of fallot. This is quite common among those congenital heart diseases that will require surgery.”

Dr Onakpoya stated that although most congenital heart defects result from problems early in the child’s heart development, the cause of which is unknown, certain environmental and genetic risks factors such as German measles, certain medications and hereditary can predispose to congenital heart defects.

The surgeon said without these defective hearts corrected, such children probably may not live up to age of 20 and even if he does, he will be frequently in and out of the hospital.

“They stand a higher risk of developing many problems, including brain abscesses, heart attacks, heart failures, slower growth and development and even stroke,” he declared.

Mrs Favour Adesola, the mother of a 13-month-old baby, one of the children whose heart was repaired, described raising a baby with a heart condition as traumatic.

Her baby, she said was diagnosed at seven months in Ibadan with the heart problem when she suddenly turned bluish in her lips and hands and was struggling to breathe. The surgery to repair the defective heart was delayed till now based on doctor’s advice.

According to her, “it has not been easy; it does not make her eat well; so definitely it is not making her grow at the expected rate since she is not eating well.

“I am so happy that my baby will come back active and develop as she is supposed to.”