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Heart Disease Registry needful in Guyana
Dr Gary Stephens
The need for a Congenital Heart Disease Registry was regarded as essential if paediatric heart surgery is to become a reality in Guyana. This notion was emphasised by Dr Gary Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), which is situated in the Georgetown Public Hospital compound.
Dr Stephens had, since last year, disclosed plans to offer paediatric heart surgery at the facility thus reducing the number of cases that are sent abroad. But although arrangements were made for a team from the Long Island Jewish Hospital in the United States to travel here and undertake such operations, local support has been severely lacking.
“The issue is that a number of small groups have come to Guyana and have examined patients; they have done echocardiograms, made diagnoses and determined that the patients need surgery but they hold on to their lists like it is some prized possession.”
According to Dr Stephens the paediatric medical team is ready and willing to offer its service once there are at least 12 children needing surgery on a single occasion.
“There are more than 12 kids in Guyana but you can’t get these groups, for some reason or the other, to give up their lists…I am not sure what the issue is. You hear that a kid needs open heart surgery and he or she has to go somewhere and we are right here saying ‘send them to us.’”
Dr Stephens speculated that the only solution is the establishment of a Congenital Heart Disease Registry. He added that as an institution CHI is willing to host the registry as a public service. Once a registry is in place, Dr Stephens said that all doctors, institutions or groups that come to Guyana and diagnose patients with congenital heart disease will be obligated to call and register such patients.
“This ensures that there is a database to follow these patients in order to know whether they had surgery and also what type of surgery. I think that many kids loose out because we don’t have a registry. With a registry we could have easily found 12 kids who meet the profile for open heart surgery…,” Dr Stephens noted.
During an interview earlier this year, he was confident that history would have been made before the end of this month with the introduction of open heart surgery for children, an undertaking which has never been engaged locally.
He had related, then, that the lead Paediatric Surgeon from the Long Island Jewish Hospital is very proficient in his field, having done many successful surgeries over the years.
And since CHI has not been involved in paediatric operations, Dr Stephens had disclosed that earnest efforts were being made to make contact with individuals and organizations, that could channel children in need of heart surgery to the institute.
“We are trying to reach out to people and find out if they know of kids out there who may need open heart surgery. They can call the CHI and register with us.”
Once the registration process begins, Dr Stephens says that the children’s particulars are to be sent abroad so that they could be examined by the Paediatric Surgeon.
It was also the expectation of Dr Stephens that CHI would have been able to examine the former First Lady’s Kids First Fund’s list of children who required open heart surgeries.
“We had that list at some point so we are trying to back track and figure out what happened with some of those kids, whether they had surgery or not.” As such he noted that the assistance of the public would have been necessary to spread the word that open heart surgery is available to suitable candidates.
The planning process for the crucial feature was in the making for more than two years, according to Dr Stephens. He said that CHI is fully equipped with the relevant equipment to facilitate open heart surgeries for children but however currently lack the relevant personnel to completely man the operation, hence the need for the Long Island team.
“The surgery itself, I don’t think, is the issue; it is the management. Kids are unique…With adults you can take a little bit more latitude but with kids you can’t do that. Now if you are going to do these complex operations it is good to work as a team, with people who know each other.”
However, given the lack of support thus far, Dr Stephen is of the view that renewed efforts will have to be engaged.
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