Health D-G congratulates Sarawak, Serdang medical teams for transport and operation on baby girl

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KUCHING: Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today commended medical teams in Kuching and Serdang for the successful operation on a baby girl from Sarawak in spite of the challenges posed by Covid-19.

The five-month-old baby who had an inlet Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) and was ventilated in Hospital Umum Sarawak, was successfully transferred to Hospital Serdang via commercial flight in May 2020.

“She was accompanied by a Medical Officer and her mother and despite her tender age and stormy preoperative period, she successfully underwent VSD closure on June 4 (last month),” he said in a Facebook post today.

He thus congratulated all the teams involved including the Sarawak General Hospital team, Hospital Serdang’s Paediatric Cardiology team, Paediatric Cardiac ICU team Cardiothoracic team and Cardiac anesthesia team.

Ha also thanked all those behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to make the chapter of Hospital Serdang’s story a great success.

“Thank you for the support and trust rendered to the team to help the baby become healthy, and putting a smile back on the faces of both mother and child,” he said.

A VSD, also known as a hole in the heart, is a common heart defect that is present at birth (congenital).

VSDs are the most common congenital heart defects, and in most cases they’re diagnosed and treated successfully with few or no complications.

“During this unprecedented time with the Movement Control Order (MCO), transferring a critically-ill patient across the South China Sea is seemingly an uphill task,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

Limited flights, compulsory quarantine for the accompanying staffs and securing an approval for transfer were some of the challenges that needed to be overcome by those involved in the procedure.