2016-01-15

On January 11, 2016, the Joint Cardiac Surgery Center of the 1st Affliated Hospital of SUMC and Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital performed for the first time a small axillary incision minimally invasive surgery for a 2 year-old patient. A 4 mm incision replaces the long scar and wires on the chest. This procedure was successfully completed for the first time in the western Guangdong area, meaning it filled the gap in this field for the region.

2 year-old little Yifeng (alias), comes from Zhangzhou, Fujian. In his household, there are his grandmother, father, mother, and elder brother. Little Yifeng’s mother Mrs. Lin said that 9 years ago the couple came to Shantou to work and within this time, she had two sons. On December 2013, little Yifeng was born, adding joy and happiness to this normal, blue-collar family. However, not long after he was born, he repeatedly came down with cold and fever and sometimes even pneumonia. All the treatments have almost depleted the family’s savings.

Since little Yifeng is always sick, his mother could not go out to work. They relied on his father’s wage of 3,000 yuan from working at a bakery. On October 2015, little Yifeng again had gotten severely ill and came to the 1st Affiliated Hospital. Here, the doctors heard a murmur and diagnosed a congenital heart disease - aneurysm of the membranous ventricular septum.

Dr. Wang of the Joint Cardiac Surgery Center states, aneurysm of the membranous ventricular septum is a rare congenital heart malformation. If surgical correction isn’t done in time, with increases in age, a patient will have repeated lung infection leading to pulmonary hypertension and eventually cardiomegaly and decreased heart function.

After discussion, the Joint Cardiac Surgery Center came up with the best solution - Dr. Wang will perform a minimally invasive surgery by a small axillary incision for little Yifeng to repair his septal defect. Only a 4 mm incision on the right chest to enter the heart, without damaging the rib cage.

On the 11th around 10 AM, the surgery began and after a little over an hour, the surgery was successfully finished. Dr. Wang said, “Relax, the surgery was a success” to the parents waiting outside, giving them relief. At the same time, a record was set for western Guangdong’s minimally invasive cardiac surgeries.

“Compared to the routine open heart surgery, minimally invasive small axillary incision surgery is more difficult, more technically demanding for the surgeon, but to the child, there is less injury and the wound is less obvious, which will not affect the patient’s appearance”, said Dr. Tao, chief of the Joint Cardiac Surgery Center. After the surgery, little Yifeng’s vitals were stable and he is expected to be discharged 7 days later.