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As many will recall, Phoebe, aged 1½, from Accra in Ghana, had suffered since birth from a rare, difficult-to-treat and life-threatening heart defect: the so-called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
This duct forms a connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery in the unborn child. Because the foetus in the womb is still supplied with oxygen-rich blood by its mother and does not breathe independently, the ductus arteriosus serves to divert the blood largely past the pulmonary circulation. It is only after birth, when the newborn begins to breathe independently, that the lungs expand. As a result, they can be supplied with blood normally and the baby’s body begins to supply itself with oxygen-rich blood. The ductus arteriosus is then no longer needed and closes within the first few days of life.
In the case of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), however, this connection remains open after birth: If the ductus arteriosus does not close, some of the oxygen-rich blood does not flow into the systemic circulation. Instead, it flows from the aorta back directly into the pulmonary circulation via the open ductus arteriosus (left-to-right shunt). Depending on the size of the opening, the oxygen supply via the systemic circulation can be reduced to a greater or lesser extent. In Phoebe’s case, the condition is very pronounced: she suffers from growth retardation, shortness of breath (oxygen-poor blood!) and marked physical weakness. The condition would have led to her death from heart failure within the next few months.
Prof. Charles Yankah, former cardiac surgeon and deputy director of the German Heart Centre in Berlin, had organised a surgical opportunity for little Phoebe at Mater Hospital in Nairobi during his last visit to Ghana. The operation – following an anxious wait due to delays caused by Covid-19 – was finally carried out successfully on 10 November.
You have all given little Phoebe a new lease of life. Phoebe and her overjoyed parents say: Thank you!
