Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) marked yet another milestone in its history on April 26, when a five-year-old Baby Zainab was wheeled into the Cardiac Operation Theatre for the first open heart surgery at SIUT. Baby Zainab was suffering from a hole in the heart that allowed the blood to mix and increase blood flow to the lungs, causing her to have frequent chest infections.
To perform the surgery, a team of 9 doctors, 2 perfusionists (who run the heart-lung machine) and 8 nurses worked relentlessly to ensure safe and successful surgery and post-operative care.
Zainab tolerated the procedure well and made a remarkable recovery, being able to come off the ventilator within 3 hours. She has made an excellent recovery and was discharged home.A lot of planning went into performing the first open-heart surgery at SIUT. Initially, a team of cardiologists and their support staff established the Paediatric Cardiology Department at SIUT with the main purpose of not only providing a new service but also developing protocols and processes to make the new division comparable to any international unit which deals with paediatric and congenital heart disease.
SIUT, being patient-centric and providing free, high-quality care with dignity and compassion to cater to the needs of the patients, has given importance to expanding and adding newer facilities and specialties to cater to the complex healthcare demands of the people of the country.
From transforming an 8 bedded ward into an Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Centre for Robotic Surgery speciality and now Paediatric Heart Surgery, Prof Adib Rizvi’s vision was to develop the SIUT Children and Cardiac Hospital.
The credit must go to the parents who put the immense trust that the people of Pakistan have in Prof. Adib Rizvi, Director SIUT and his team.
