A newborn became one of the smallest-ever recipients of a pacemaker, undergoing the procedure just 15 minutes after being born.
Doctors at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital determined that Jaya Maharaj, born nine weeks premature, had only hours to live if they did not operate.
Stanford announced details of the operation this week.
Jaya was born with a heart rate of 45 beats per minute. A healthy newborn heartbeat is 120 to 150 beats per minute.
Dr. Katsuhide Maeda stitched the pacemaker's electrical leads to 3.5-pound (1.59-kilogram) Jaya's walnut-sized heart. He says she would otherwise have died.
Other doctors say the surgery was one of the most impressive of its kind and could lead more hospitals to attempt the procedure. (AP)
<한글 기사>
태어난지 15분만에 심장박동기 달아
미국 샌프란시스코에서 한 신생아가 태어난 지 15분만에 심장박동기 부착수술을 받았다.
스탠포드 대학의 의료진은 9주 일찍 태어난 미숙아 자야 마하레이가 수술을 받지 않았다면 몇 시간밖에 살 수 없어 수술을 결정해 1.59kg 호두크기의 작은 심장에 박동기를 장착했다.
자야의 심장 박동수는 분당 45로 정상적인 신생아의 120-150에 크게 못미치는 지수를 보였다.
