As soon as they received information about a case of acute myocarditis that threatened the life of girl D.N.H (11 years old, in Ninh Binh), doctors at the National Children's Hospital immediately activated a quick reaction. Both remote consultation and resuscitation instructions via phone, and deployment of a mobile ECMO (artificial lung) team traveling more than 100km to the local hospital. The breathless race with death ended with a miracle: Regaining life to a child who was approaching the birth - death line.
From common symptoms to critical in just a few hours
Before that, baby D.N.H showed signs of fever, vomiting and fatigue. But after only one day of hospitalization (17.): her condition suddenly turned bad: skin turned rainy, her lips purple, SPO2 dropped to 75%, and her heart rate was unstable. Doctors diagnosed him with cardiac shock due to acute myocarditis and immediately called for support from the National Children's Hospital.
Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Anh Tuan - Head of the Department of Intensive Care of Internal Medicine, National Children's Hospital said: "Pediatric patients in critical condition, only ECMO can maintain their lives. But moving the child to Hanoi is too risky, the child can have cardiac arrest at any time".
Activating mobile ECMO at night, traveling 100km to save girl
That same night, under the direction of Dr. Phan Huu Phuc - Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital, a team of doctors, nurses and specialized ECMO equipment were urgently deployed to Ninh Binh. When approaching the child, the doctors determined that the child's heart was weakened, had arrhythmia and was no longer responding to internal medicine treatment. Immediately, the ECMO team deployed to place the ECMO machine on site.
Thanks to careful preparation and smooth coordination between the two hospitals, the ECMO placement process went smoothly. After the intervention, the patient's condition became significantly more stable.
That same night, the child was transferred to the National Children's Hospital for further intensive treatment. Children are supported with ECMO, blood filtration, brain function monitoring and maintenance of vital signs.
miraculous escape after 6 days of ECMO
After nearly a week of intensive treatment, baby D.N.H had an ECMO, is currently alert, breathing on his own and has no neurological sequelae. "I didn't expect a fever to put my child in a life-and-death situation. Fortunately, the doctors did not give up" - the mother of the child choked up as much as she shared.
Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Anh Tuan assessed: "The success of the case comes from the fast response speed, effective inter-hospital coordination and the ability to deploy mobile ECMO. This is a lifeline for critical children at medical facilities that have not yet been able to implement ECMO.
Cardiovascular inflammation is a dangerous disease but is easily confused with the common cold. Warning symptoms include: rapid breathing, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, chest pain, receding lip skin... When these symptoms appear, parents need to take their children to the doctor immediately for timely treatment.
