One month after the operation, Marie and Sékou are completely cured.
The two Ivorian children could be carried out in Monaco in December.
It was a lovely story that moved the Principality: last December, Sékou, one and a half years old, and Marie, nine years old, two Ivorian children suffering from heart disease, were treated by the Cardio-Thoracic Center of Monaco ( CCM), thanks to the Monaco Humanitarian Collective.
Interventions expected by Professor Sylvie Di Filippo, head of the pediatric and congenital cardiology program at the CCM, who, a month later, we confirm that Sékou and Marie are definitively cured.
Both children originally suffered from what is known as a leaky ductus arteriosus. The vessel that connects the aorta and the pulmonary artery, during the fetal and prenatal period, is supposed to close after the baby is born. If it remains open, the operation is carried out in principle during the first year of life.
However, due to the lack of material and human resources in Côte d’Ivoire, neither Marie nor Sékou could be taken care of. And this cardiac pathology, initially not very complex to treat, has evolved, causing some complications.
Evolving pathologies
” Sékou had shortness of breath on exertion and growth retardationexplains Professor Di Filippo. We placed a prosthesis in the vessel, to block it and prevent blood flow. We did it by catheterization [une technique réalisée sous anesthésie générale chez l’enfant, par une sonde introduite par ponction des vaisseaux fémoraux]. »
Healed immediately and permanently, the little boy did not need medication and was able to leave the hospital two days after the operation, before returning to his native country at the beginning of December.
For Marie, on the other hand, it was a little longer. Although suffering from the same cardiac pathology, the little girl presented, because of her age, a permeable arterial duct much wider than that of Sékou and suffered from hypertension in the lung, which could cause lesions, and of a large dilation of the heart.
” We couldn’t fit a prosthesis, so we closed the canal with surgery, but not with an open heart. There were no complications, but we saw her regularly in consultation to prevent treatment as soon as possible and to monitor her heart and lung reactions. “, tells us the Professor.
Back home in early January, the little girl no longer needs medication. She now has a normal lung and her heart has shrunk. She and Sékou will still have to be followed in Côte d’Ivoire, to ensure that they recover well.
A long humanitarian chain
And if this human adventure has a happy ending, it is thanks to the work carried out by humanitarian organisations, by the nursing staff and by the host families, who help the children to feel safe.
” These children arrive in foster care, without their own parentsreminds us of Professor Di Filippo. The first days before the operation, they are out of place, scared, there are a lot of unknown people around them. They are frightened, they cry, they are irritated: we have to reassure them, talk to them, put them on music, games… We get a lot of help from the host families, that’s their point of reference. But they are also children who get used to it very quickly. After the operation, they are usually very comfortable. They are even content and no longer cry. »
Marie and Sékou thus join the long list of capable foreign children in Monaco thanks to humanitarian organizations. Whether it is the Monegasque Red Cross, the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire, or other NGOs and associations: the files are linked. And the choice is not always easy to make: these children are seen in their country of origin by cardiologists. I receive the files, I study them, and I see if the heart diseases are curable. We select those where we know that we will be able to treat completely and allow the child to recover normal heart function, or at least offering them a significant improvement in their heart condition. We make sure that they will have a follow-up that will not be too restrictive and, if possible, without medical treatment “, explains the cardiologist.
And if it’s up to her, Professor Di Filippo takes care of it even more: ” it is something very important. We serve these children. We allow them to have a normal life, to have a future. I regret that we cannot operate on more of them, because the doctors who are in these countries report many, many children who would need this treatment. We have to keep doing it. »
