1 Blue Sales given Fresh Chance

Northern Advocate, 6 May 1949, Page 2

1 Blue Sales given Fresh Chance

WELLINGTON, Fri. ■ (P.A.)—Eighteen children who were blue babies or had a closely allied heart affliction making them weakly and breathless have been given a chance to live normal lives because of successful operations at the heart surgery unit at the Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, up to March 31. The story of the establishment of the unit was told to hospital board representatives in Wellington this week by the superintendent-in-chief of the Auckland Hospital Board (Mr H. S. Kenrick). He said the results obtained by Mr Robb, senior surgeon at the unit, and his team compared favourably with those obtained in the best clinics in the world. There was little to choose between tlie results obtained at Guy’s Hospital, London, and at Green Lane. 65 CASES EXAMINED Mr Kenrick said that to March 31 last 65 cases had been examined at the clinic, and there was a waiting list theni of 39 cases. These cases had come from Ashburton, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Raetihi, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Northland, Napier and Auckland. Surgical treatment had been carried out on 11 cases of patent ductus arteriosus. None was lost, and all were doing well. True blue baby eases—cyanotic heart disease—for which an operation had been performed, had totalled 11. Nine recovered and two died. One of the deaths was attributable to a cerebral condition which was considered unrelated to the operation. Of the nine who recovered the operation had to be abandoned in four cases because of abnormality rendering operation procedure impossible or inadvisable.