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

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

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

“At four years of age, aortic valve replacement could not be consideredgiven its small size – explains Guido Michielon, coordinator of the team, head of the cardiac surgery department, and who has followed the little girl’s case since 2020 – even the Ross operation (pulmonary root autotransplant 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 a reconstructive aortic valve surgery, one of the most complex procedures that can be performed in pediatric cardiac surgery, not having a second chance in case of severe insufficiency”.

Upon arrival in Genoa a week before the operation, Aaniya was followed by cardiologist Carmelo Arcidiacono: “From the beginning, the situation of her aortic valve appeared compromised and the repair seemed very complex and with uncertain outcomes – he says – the situation did not seem better even during the echocardiographic evaluation performed 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 plastic surgery had failed. But fortunately The valve repair surgery was an excellent success“.

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 subject her to another complex surgery, we wanted it to be entrusted to the most expert hands“. Initially, he admits, “We were hesitant to undergo such critical surgery in a foreign country.but the professionalism and competence of Dr. Michielon reassured us that Gaslini was the right choice. Our experience at Gaslini was exceptional“.