Kazakhstan 2-Year-Old Baby in Urgent Need of Heart Surgery Saved at Korean Hospital

Professor Lee Cheol of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Successful Surgery
Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Practices ESG Management Activities

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 27th that a 2-year-old baby from Kazakhstan, who urgently needed heart surgery due to congenital heart disease, successfully underwent surgery and was discharged in good health.

From birth, Amina Bekesh (female, hereafter Amina) showed signs of respiratory distress, and her lips would turn blue when she cried a lot. Her parents searched everywhere to save their daughter, but due to limitations in medical technology in Kazakhstan, it was difficult to receive treatment locally. They were also unable to afford traveling to a neighboring country for treatment due to financial difficulties.

Professor Lee Cheol of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and Professor Lee Jaeyoung of the Department of Pediatrics at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital took a commemorative photo on the 26th with Dinara Mukanova, the guardian of Amina Bekesh, a Kazakhstani girl who was born with a congenital heart disease, ahead of her discharge.

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital learned from its International Cooperation Team that there was a baby in Kazakhstan urgently needing surgery and sought cooperation from Catholic Medical Angels (CMA), a social contribution organization under the Catholic Central Medical Center. The hospital invited Amina to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital as a beneficiary of CMA’s congenital heart disease treatment program.

The disease Amina suffered from is Ebstein's anomaly, a congenital heart defect caused by the improper formation of the tricuspid valve during fetal heart development. The tricuspid valve is located between the right atrium and right ventricle of the heart. It functions to prevent blood flowing from the right ventricle back into the right atrium. Due to the abnormal shape of the tricuspid valve, severe tricuspid regurgitation occurs, leading to secondary enlargement of the right atrium and right ventricle. Missing the appropriate timing for surgery can result in serious consequences such as right ventricular dysfunction and arrhythmia.

Amina was admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital on the 4th with her mother, Dinara Mukanova (36), and met with her attending physicians, Professor Lee Jaeyoung of Pediatrics and Professor Lee Cheol of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. At diagnosis, severe tricuspid regurgitation had caused enlargement of the right ventricle, and ventricular function was slightly reduced.

Under the direction of Professor Lee Cheol of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Amina underwent major surgery lasting six hours on the 11th. Professor Lee performed surgery to reshape the abnormal tricuspid valve to resemble a normal valve, restoring its function to prevent blood regurgitation, and reduced the size of the enlarged right atrium and right ventricle. Ebstein's anomaly is a very rare condition. Tricuspid valve repair for this condition is much more challenging compared to typical tricuspid valve repairs performed on adult patients with normal heart structures, making the surgeon’s experience and skill crucial.

After surgery, Amina received intensive care in the cardiac intensive care unit (CCU) and was later monitored in a general ward before being discharged in good health on the 26th of this month. She will continue to receive regular check-ups at a local hospital.

Pediatric heart surgery is one of the most complex and risky fields in modern medicine, requiring a large team and demonstrating the hospital’s high level of capability. Saving a single child with heart disease requires organic and close collaboration across various departments including cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, radiology, anesthesiology, operating room, cardiopulmonary team, specialized nurses, intensive care unit, and general wards.

Professor Lee Cheol is an authority in pediatric heart surgery, having performed over 2,000 surgeries for various congenital heart diseases. He said, "The valve surgery was successful, so the size of the right ventricle is expected to return to the normal range and ventricular function will improve. I am proud as a surgeon and impressed by the child who endured the difficult treatment process after coming from a distant place."

Meanwhile, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital practices ESG management activities by conducting charitable work to support treatment costs for patients who cannot afford medical care due to financial difficulties, based on the Catholic spirit of respecting life. In particular, it carries out medical sharing activities for children urgently needing heart surgery from overseas countries such as Mongolia and Kazakhstan. This year, three patients were invited for heart disease treatment, and plans are in place to invite more children requiring urgent heart surgery in the second half of the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.