By Aruna Turay
4 months old baby Hassanatu Bangura need urgent help from philanthropists worldwide to help save her life.
Medical report from Dr Abubakarr B. Bah of the Ola During Children’s Hospital in Freetown says baby Hassanatu was referred to the hospital with history of Bluish Discoloration of Mucous Membranes and Lips within the first week after birth, non-paroxy small cough and low-grade intermittent fever for 3 days.
Baby Hassanatu is not improving with the current medical treatment and she is completely oxygen dependent. She needs urgent corrective surgery overseas to maximise her growth potentials as at the moment Sierra Leone is not equipped to perform heat surgeries.
It is said that there is associated excessive sweating and frequent pauses during breast feeding. No prior history of forceful hand feeding or choking spells. There is a positive history of recurrent ARl and was previously treated for febrile illness at a private health unit prior to presentation.
She was delivered at term via spontaneous vertex delivery at secondary health facility and cried well after birth with a birth weight of 2.5kg but was noticed to develop bluish discoloration of the lips within a week.
Clinical evaluation at presentation revealed an acutely ill-looking non-syndromic small for age infant, afebrile, centrally cyanosed, and not dehydrated.
She had a hyperactive precordium and was respiratory distress as evidenced by intercostal and subcostal recessions, saturating at 84% on CPAP with a respiratory rate of 66breath/min.
She had adequate air entry on both lung fields and harsh sounds. Her peripheral pulses were palpable with no delay, regular and synchronous with a rate of 150b/min and blood pressure measures 51/30mmHg.
First and second heart sounds normal with a grade 3/6 pansystolic murmur loudest at the left lower sternal border. Abdominal examination revealed tender and soft hepatomegaly of 3cm below the right costal margin.
She was fully conscious and alert with normal anterior fontanelle and tone. A working diagnosis of
cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease (Transposition of the Great Arteries Truncus Arteriosus+Ventricular Septal Defect) and severe Pneumonia in heart failure was made.
Chest X-ray showed cardiomegaly. Echocardiography findings: Truneus Arteriosus+Ventricular Septal Defect.
She has been on admission in ICU for more than two (2) weeks and she is currently on oxygen support, IV antibiotics, antifailure drugs and NGT feeding. She was noticed to develop deteriorating general condition associated with persistent high-grade fever, worsening of cyanosis, and decreasing SPO2 as low as 55% on oxygen supplementation.
