"BLUE BABY" CASES OPERATED ON SUCCESSFULLY IN N.Z.

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 May 1949, Page 5

"BLUE BABY" CASES OPERATED ON SUCCESSFULLY IN N.Z.

Work As Good As At Guy's Hospital, London, Done In Auckland

WELLINGTON, Last Night (PA). —Eighteen children, who were “blue babies,” or had a closely allied heart affliction, making them weakly and breathless, had been given a chance to live normal lives because of successful operations at the heart surgery unit at Green Lane Hospital. Auckland, up to Marrti 31, last.

The story of the establishment of the unit was told to Hospital Board representatives in Wellington this week by Mr. H. Selwyn Kenrick, superintendent-in-chief of the Auckland Hospital Board

He said the results obtained by Dr. Douglas 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 results obtained at Guy’s Hospital, London, and at Green Lane. "Where success is achieved the result is very striking indeed,” said Mr Kenrick. “From being blue, breathless and weakly, witl marked swelling or clubbing of the ends of the fingers, a child assumes a normal pink colour and gains quickly in general health and strength I saw one child who had been very (; yanotic before the operation running round the ward three weeks after the operation. On my saying to her, ‘Well, you little rascal, how do you like hospital now?’ she answered, rather ambiguously, ‘I like hospital, but I am going home soon.’ She then went on to say: ‘See what my doctor put in irry autograph book.’ I opened the book, recognised Dr. Robb’s writing and read: “ ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, Carnations are pink and so are you? “It was very appropriate, for in-

[deed she was no longer a blue baby; 'she was a nice pink colour.” Mr. Kenrick said that to March 31 last, 65 cases had been examined at the clinic and there was a waiting list then of 39 cases. These cases had come from Ashburton, Christchurch, Neilson, Wellington, Raetihi, Waikato, , | Bay of Plenty, North Auckland, Na- > |pier and Auckland. Surgical treat- . iment had be.*n carried out in 11 cases : jof patent ductus arteriousus. None ’was lost and all were doing well. True "blue baby” cases—cyanotic heart disease—for which had been . performed, had totalled 11. Nine had recovered and two died. One of the deaths was attributable + o a cerebral condition which was considered unrelated to the operation The operation had io be abandoned in four cases, because of the abnormality of rendering the operation procedure impossible or inadvisable. Dr. Kenrick gave a summary of the , figures as follows: Cases operated on 22, successful 18, unsuccessful 2 (operation abandoned), died 2 (one from operation and one from cerebral condition). It was very satisfactory, concluded Dr. Kenrick, to see the Health Department working in close co-opera-tion with one of the major hospital boards to establish a special unit such as this, a unit which was to serve all New Zealand and not just Auckland. The treatment was, of course, entirely free.