First at the Toulouse University Hospital: the heart of the little patient in 3D in the operating room
The miniaturized 3D probe, a technical feat for the management of congenital heart disease in young patients
Heart defects affected 8 children out of 1000 births in France.
Some congenital heart disease, due to their initial severity, must be performed from birth or in early childhood. The precision of the surgery or an intervention by catheterization is based on the very precise description of the cardiac malformation by ultrasound.
If the3D transesophageal ultrasound has been possible in adults since 2006, it was not possible for young children until today. The limitation of examinations in the operating room includes in particular the size of the probes which must be provided in the esophagus.
A new miniaturized 3D probe (General Electric), a real technological innovation, now makes it possible to monitor surgical interventions in the block or by interventional catheterization (treatment of the malformation by the vessels) and to make an accurate assessment of the repaired heart after surgery. This new 3D pediatric probe is suitable for children weighing more than 5 kg, offering a majority of children the possibility of benefiting from it, whereas the previous probes did not allow the examination to be carried out on patients weighing less than 35 kg.
Toulouse University Hospital: first center in the world to benefit from the miniaturized 3D probe
Although this innovation was presented by its industrial designer at the congress of the pediatric and congenital cardiology subsidiary of the French Society of Cardiology (from September 14 to 16, 2022), it was at the Toulouse University Hospital that it was used to the first time in the world, at the beginning of September (1st exam in Toulouse France with TEE); a choice of the designer linked to the know-how of the Toulouse teams in terms of 3D innovation for 20 years. European pilot center in 2002 of the 3D probe in consultation, the cardio-paediatrics teams also made the Toulouse University Hospital the first center to test the fusion of 3D images (Echonavigator, Philips) in 2015.
Four children were able to benefit from this examination, in the operating theater and in the catheterization room at the Children’s Hospital, with the intervention of Pr Acar, Dr Karsenty and Hadeed, pediatric cardiologists, Dr Calvaruso, pediatric cardiac surgeon and the Dr Chausseray, anesthetist-resuscitator.
This is particularly the case of Kalista, 7 years old, suffering from an inter-auricular communication, the most common congenital malformation, who was taken care of to close his communication by interventional catheterization:
The probe will be delivered to the Toulouse University Hospital from October, thus making it possible to optimize the care of the 400 children who will receive cardiac intervention (surgery or catheterization) in Occitanie each year.
Dr Clément Karsenty, head of the cardiopediatrics medical team
This technological advance in imaging is a real revolution in improving the care of children with heart defects.
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First at the Toulouse University Hospital: the heart of the little patient in 3D in the operating room
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