A new heart is urgently needed for Zoe Grace Naidu, a four-month-old baby.
She was born with a very rare congenital heart defect called Hypo Plastic Left Heart Syndrome. When Zoe was born she appeared to be completely healthy, however, a glucose test soon revealed that she had very low glucose levels.
She was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and at four days old was diagnosed with the syndrome. Essentially the syndrome means that the left side of Zoe’s heart has not developed.
At the time of the diagnosis, the family was given three urgent options. The options comprised compassionate care by allowing Zoe to pass away naturally and comfortably. The second option was a three stage palliative operation process and lastly a heart transplant. A decision was reached to give her a chance and they went ahead with the operation despite her having a 25 per cent survival rate.
At eight days old, Zoe had her first open heart surgery and recovered ahead of schedule, allowing her to go home to spend precious time with her family. Zoe is now three months old and is now in acute cardiac failure. Her family is seeking a heart transplant, however, they face many challenges due to the lack of a donor pool. Doctors are in full support of doing the transplant, but the real challenge is obtaining a suitable donor.
Ramona Naidu, Zoe’s mother, said finding a donor’s heart was incredibly difficult as the donor would need to be brain dead in order for the donation to be viable. Naidu added that Zoe’s is not on the donor list for a heart as there is no donor pool, however, if the family are able to find a suitable donor, doctors will perform the surgery for Zoe.
Unfortunately, Zoe’s aorta has narrowed, placing her at risk of suffering a heart attack. She had an emergency procedure called a Cardiac Catheterisation and ballooning of her aorta in August but reacted adversely to anesthetics and dyes. It was decided that the procedure would need to be repeated on 28 September.
“We remain hopeful and believe that we will find a match that will literally change little Zoe’s destiny,” said Naidu.
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