High risk of sudden death, 4-year-old English girl saved at the Gaslini hospital in Genoa

Difficult aortic valve plastic surgery for a congenital heart anomaly, the little girl has now been discharged and is well

GENOA – Aaniya is a four-year-old girl who lives in London, and was born with a rare anomaly in the left coronary artery, which caused her to have severe aortic insufficiency and a risk very high rate of sudden death. Today, thanks to the life-saving aortic valve plastic surgery carried out last June 12 by a highly specialized team from the Genoese Gaslini Pediatric Institute, she is well, has been discharged and can return to have a normal life expectancy.

“At four years of age it was not possible to consider replacing the aortic valve, given its small size – explains Guido Michielon, coordinator of the team, responsible for the cardiac surgery department, and who I have been following the little girl’s case since 2020 – even Ross’ surgery (autotransplantation of the lung root in the aortic area) was difficult to perform, given the previous surgery on the left coronary artery”. The doctor explains that “the best option was to perform reconstructive plastic surgery of the aortic valve, one of the most complex procedures that can be performed in pediatric heart surgery, as there is no second chance in the event of severe insufficiency “.

Upon arrival in Genoa a week before the operation, Aaniya was followed by the cardiologist Carmelo Arcidiacono: “From the beginning, the situation of her aortic valve appeared compromised and the repair operation seemed very complex and the results uncertain – he says – the picture did not seem better even on the echocardiographic evaluation carried out on the operating table on the day of the operation. We were all prepared for Ross’s possible operation, with all the risks associated with it, if the surgery had failed. But fortunately the valve repair surgery had an excellent outcome“.

Aaniya’s mother explains why it was decided to rely on Gaslini: “Dr. Michielon successfully performed a complex surgery on Aaniya at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London three years ago. When the time came to subjecting her to another complex operation, we wanted her to rely on the most expert hands“. Initially, he admits, “we were hesitant about the idea of undergoing such a critical surgery in a foreign country, but Dr. Michielon’s professionalism and competence reassured us that Gaslini was the choice right Our experience at Gaslini was exceptional“.