CHI to offer Paediatric cardiac operations by January

Nov 10, 2009 News

– More than 20 children screened at the weekend

January is being touted as the official commencement of Paediatric open-heart surgery at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI). CHI is strategically located in the Georgetown Public Hospital Compound.

Just last weekend, a cardiologist from the Mount Sinai Hospital of New York, United States, was engaged in the screening of more than 20 paediatric patients who are likely to be operated on locally.

However, all of the operations will be undertaken by a Cardiac Surgeon and his team from the Long Island Jewish Hospital of the United States.

Chief Executive Officer of CHI, Dr Gary Stephens, anticipates that the list of candidates suitable for surgery will amount to about 50.

“We are trying to do some of these cardiac surgeries in January. That is the plan right now but sometimes even the best plans don’t work out,” Dr Stephens admitted.

The paediatric programme, when it kicks off, will add to the list of inaugural features that have been introduced by CHI. And according to Dr Stephens, a Cardiac Surgeon himself, like the adult open-heart programme, the children’s programme will in perhaps a few years develop to a point in which CHI operates independently.

Once paediatric surgeries commence though, Dr Stephens noted that these surgeries will be done at CHI, adding that the Long Island Team will be willing to operate on about 12 patients at a time.

“The whole team will come down for the operations and we hope to use the CHI four-bed recovery area.

However, since the kids are a bit easier we are hopefully going to liaise with the GPHC to use the High Dependency Unit. We have not worked out those logistics but most kids will probably spend a day in the Intensive Care Unit before we move them to somewhere that requires a little less intensive management.”

Some of the procedures may see the children being closed up through the groin while others may have to undergo traditional surgeries, Dr Stephens noted.

During a previous interview, Dr Stephens had expressed some concern about the ability of CHI to garner sufficient clients for the Paediatric programme.

He had highlighted the need for a Congenital Heart Disease Registry since the venture has the potential of significantly reducing the number of cases that are sent abroad.

But according to him, although arrangements were made for a team from the Long Island Jewish Hospital in the United States to travel here and undertake such operations, 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 determine they need surgery but they hold on to their lists like it is some prized position.”

It was even at that point Dr Stephens disclosed that the paediatric medical team was ready and willing to offer its service once there are at least 12 children to operate 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 a kid needs open heart surgery and he or she has to go somewhere and we are right here saying send them to us.”

For this reason, Dr Stephens speculated that the only solution is the establishment of a Congenital Heart Disease Registry.

He related further that as an institution, CHI is willing to host the registry as a public service. Once a registry is in place, Dr Stephens noted 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 lose 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.

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CHI to offer Paediatric cardiac operations by January

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