IPOH: The pediatric and cardiology team at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here made history after successfully performing an angioplasty and stenting procedure on a premature baby yesterday.
In a Facebook post, the hospital said the baby had a heart condition known as "Hypoplastic Aortic Arch and Coarctation", where the aortic blood vessel is abnormal and extremely narrow.
The aorta is a large arterial blood vessel that carries blood out of the heart to the entire body. The procedure aimed to ensure that the baby's aortic blood vessel could supply sufficient blood to the whole body.
The hospital said the procedure yesterday was performed at the Invasive Cardiology Laboratory at the Women, Children and Cardiology Complex, led by pediatric cardiology specialist Dr Lam Ching Fung from Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital and Dr Koh Ghee Tiong from Sultan Idris Shah Hospital, Serdang.
They were assisted by the cardiology, pediatrics, neonatology and anaesthesiology teams at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital.
The non-surgical (percutaneous) procedure involved a 2.27kg premature baby.
"The baby's weight is not optimum for a bypass surgery. This non-surgical percutaneous procedure will help the baby's heart function properly until it reaches the ideal weight.
"This success is the result of collaboration between various parties, including with Sultan Idris Shah Hospital and the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital medical team. Congratulations to all involved!" the hospital said in the post.