Saving a Tiny Heart

Specialists of the Heart Institute have saved the fragile heart of a baby girl weighing only 1,300 grams.

Recently, little Zlata was transferred to the Heart Institute from the M.V. Sklifosovsky Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital. She was born prematurely at 31 weeks of pregnancy, weighing just 1,300 grams.

Doctors diagnosed Zlata with a critical heart defect — coarctation of the aorta. Because of the severe narrowing of the body’s main artery, her heart had to work under extreme strain to supply blood to the lower half of her body. The situation was further complicated by a low left ventricular ejection fraction — only 31% — indicating a critical condition.

There was no time to lose. Within hours, our team performed an exceptionally complex and delicate surgery on the baby’s aorta, which at 1,300 grams measured only a few millimeters in diameter. The surgeons carried out an extended end‑to‑end anastomosis repair.

Today, little Zlata is breathing on her own and remains in stable condition. What makes this case especially remarkable is that the world’s medical literature describes only a handful of successful surgical corrections of aortic coarctation in premature infants with such low body weight. This achievement is yet another testament to the professionalism and expertise of the pediatric team at the Heart Institute.

Heart Institute team: Vasyl Karpenko, Volodymyr Vashkeba, Bohdan Hulitskyi, Ruslana Kyreichykova, Tetiana Nazarchuk, Yevhen Oleinikov, Elena Dudko.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our colleagues at the M.V. Sklifosovsky Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital, especially to Olha Moklyakova, Head of the Department of Intensive Postnatal Care.

Every such story is not only about a complex operation. It is about a chance at life — a gift to a tiny heart.