Tuesday was a busy and productive day for WCI on the clinical and administrative fronts.
The cath team performed two diagnostic catheterizations. Both procedures went smoothly with the UHI team taking the lead and the WCI providers simply providing back-up.
Dr. Ratnayaka and Dr. Rawlinson observing UHI cath team.
The age range of the patients shows how long some kids here in Uganda wait for care of heart defects that have been present since birth.
The younger patient was 6-year-old Moureen who has a large ventricular septal defect (VSD), a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and severe pulmonary hypertension.
Moureen
In layperson’s terms, she has a large hole between the two bottom chambers of her heart (VSD), an extra blood vessel in the heart abnormally mixing blood that has no oxygen with oxygenated blood (PDA) and very high blood pressures in the vessels carrying blood to the lungs.
Moureen did well and even got dressed up for us in the ICU.
Moureen after her catheterization proccedure
The other patient, Zaina, is 16 years old. That is older than many of the patients in the United States with untreated congenital heart defects. She has a large VSD and severe pulmonary hypertension. Her procedure also went without complication.
Zaina
On the administrative side, WCI Director of Operations Deep Gulasekaram did his part to work on the logistical aspects of helping the Uganda Heart Institute’s pediatric catheterization program become independent and self-sustaining.
Deep, along with other stakeholders in the mission to support cardiac care at the Uganda Heart Institute, had a successful meeting with the Prime Minister of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda.
WCI’s Deep Gulasekaram (L) with Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and other UHI stakeholders
Ugandan Prime Minister reviewing WCI Annual Report
All in all, Tuesday’s activities provided another important step in WCI’s mission for Project Heart Uganda to help kids play harder and live longer.
