Although this time it was an unprecedented surgery for La Pampa, it should be noted that cardiovascular surgeries of a high level of complexity have been carried out at the Molas-Favaloro Complex for several years, exceeding a total of 300 surgeries in this pediatric specialty. carried out, thanks to planned work and the incorporation of infrastructure, equipment, and the excellent level of the teams that are part of this Hospital Complex.
In relation to this particular surgery, the medical professional explained to the Provincial News Agency that it is performed on patients who have aneurysmal dilation of the aortic root, which carries a high risk of rupture or dissection, for which reason it needs to be treated. , “the diseased wall of the aorta, which is around the valve, is resected (preserving it). It is replaced with a prosthetic tube and then the entire valve is sutured inside the tube, leaving it in the position it was in; Finally, the coronaries are reimplanted in that same tube.”
Better option
Replacing the entire aortic root with a prosthetic valve (a technique commonly performed in older adults) requires that the patient be anticoagulated for life. “In Pediatrics we try to avoid the use of mechanical valves, because these do not keep up with the child’s growth and because it is particularly risky for a child to remain anticoagulated for the rest of his or her life. What this surgery achieves is avoiding anticoagulation, it is called Tirone-Davis, it is an aortic root replacement with preservation of the valve. The procedure was successful, the patient progressed very well’ added the professional.
The patient was back home in less than a week, and in this sense it also represents enormous satisfaction for the Pampean medical team, “she had a very good recovery, she continues with routine post-operative check-ups, she is healing and doing very well. “added the pediatric surgeon, who is from Pampa and in addition to working at the Garrahan Hospital, has been carrying out these practices at the Lucio Molas since 2006, the product of a program of progressive growth in terms of complexity, which also led to the training of the people involved in the processes.
Hybrid equipment
With the objective of developing high complexity in its highest expression, in a dynamic and progressive way, the formation of hybrid work teams is possible, which are made up of widely qualified professionals from the provincial hospital and specialists of excellence in the field. that come from other parts of the country.
The formation of these hybrid teams makes it possible to avoid referrals of patients, which present a social cost due to the uprooting and transfer of families.
It also favors the exchange and transfer of knowledge between professionals, seeking to consolidate the operation of René Favaloro, which complies with all required quality standards.
300 surgeries in La Pampa
From 2006 to 2011, low-complexity practices were carried out, but with the donation of an extracorporeal circulation pump in 2011 (artificial heart-lung machine), which was donated by Garrahan to Lucio Molas, complex surgeries began to be performed. High average.
The extracorporeal pump allows blood circulation to continue in the body while working with the heart, which allows this organ to be stopped for a time in order to carry out the necessary corrections in it.
The work team that accompanies and travels with Cornelis is made up of an anesthesiologist, an assistant and the perfusionist (in charge of the pump); who are joined by professionals and workers from the Molas-Favaloro hospital complex, in each operation. In this sense, the surgeon highlighted ‘it is a pride to work with this intervention team, I am not only talking about the professionals who are there during the surgery, but also those who accompany the patients in their recovery. A team of people with a very high level of empathy, human quality and professionalism.’
Regarding the need for high-tech equipment to make the diagnosis and follow-up, carried out by cardiologists, Cornelis said: “Dr. Carlos Vallejo and Dr. María Gabriela Rossi always participate in this process. On this occasion, they performed a transesophageal echocardiogram once we finished the surgery, to have intraoperative control of the correct functioning of the valve, which is extremely important. There are very few public institutions in the country that have these tools and La Pampa has it.”
High complexity
The political decision of Governor Sergio Ziliotto, who from the beginning of his administration identified the health of the Pampas as a priority, was crucial to being able to grow in complexity and make it possible to perform unprecedented surgeries in the province.
It is important to highlight that for about 5 years in La Pampa very high complexity surgeries have been performed on newborn patients, with serious heart disease, re-operations, and other specific ones, like this last one, that require a lot of training and trained personnel.
“More than 90% of the patients who present with congenital heart disease who are from the province of La Pampa, we operate on them in La Pampa,” the professional reported proudly, adding that it is an enormous benefit for the community because when a pediatric patient has to have heart surgery, outside the limits of the Province, “it implies that the family has to travel, and it is not two or three days because the patient has to recover in the place where the operation was performed, and that is more or less a month where the family has to accompany him. On the other hand, most of the time blood donors are needed and we have to get them, not to mention what it means for the family to have to stop working for long periods of time, with the current situation in which we live.”
‘The results at Favaloro are almost identical to those of the Garrahan Hospital, which is the best place in Argentina by case mix. This is very difficult to achieve and of great importance for the Pampas community, in pursuit of success and safety in the treatment of children with congenital heart disease,’ said the surgeon.
Pride
“Particularly it is a pride because it is giving back a little to the Province in which I was born and raised, everything that I was able to learn in my profession. I always take La Pampa and Winifreda, my dear, everywhere, you will always hear me talk about my land. I really like being able to return to La Pampa, I have my family there, I take the opportunity to visit them. Developing this in La Pampa is a source of pride, I put a lot of energy into it,” she added.
In closing, he placed particular emphasis on the support of the provincial government and the Hospital, “it was always unconditional, I never exceeded my requests, but every time I asked for something I had positive responses so I am very grateful for that situation as well. With the new hospital they bought us state-of-the-art equipment, we have a state-of-the-art extracorporeal circulation pump and other advanced equipment, for us it is a spectacular advance, it helps us a lot and above all it helps the patient so that the surgeries are resolved with ease. success. When you have the tools to do what you know how to do, the margin of error is reduced to a minimum, Favaloro is a hospital of excellence.”
