Baby given 1% chance of survival gets lifesaving surgery
A 1-year-old girl is back at home in Nebraska after receiving lifesaving treatment in Colorado, including a surgery with magnets that helped connect a large gap in her esophagus.
Harper and her fraternal twin sister, Gabriella, were born prematurely on Feb. 22, 2021, at 23 weeks. The newborns were delivered by emergency cesarean section at Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance, Nebraska, and were immediately flown to HCA Healthcare’s Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, about 250 miles southwest, for treatment.
When Harper arrived at Rocky Mountain, she was diagnosed with long-gap esophageal atresia and pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in the lungs.
According to the CDC, esophageal atresia is a birth defect, and there are four types of it: types A through D. Harper had what is referred to as Type A, where her upper and lower esophagus were not connected to each other, all of which made it unable for her to eat, drink and swallow through the mouth.
Dr. Steven Rothenberg, chief of pediatric surgery at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, started consulting on Harper's case shortly after she arrived at the hospital. Looking back, he said he would have given her a 1% to 2% chance of survival.
Rothenberg said Harper had a gap that was about two-thirds the size of her chest, or about 3.5 inches.
"She was missing 80% of her esophagus," he said.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/baby-born-23-weeks-special-surgery-fix-incomplete/story?id=84168792
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The surgery they did is absolutely fascinating!
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