A tiny heart under control

At St. Nicholas Hospital of the First Medical Union of Lviv, doctors save children with the most complex congenital heart defects every year. Some of the youngest patients need surgery within the first hours after birth. For many children from western Ukraine, this hospital is the only opportunity to receive cardiac surgical care in time.

St. Nicholas Hospital is part of the UNBROKEN KIDS ecosystem. Every year, thousands of children from all over Ukraine receive treatment here: complex surgeries are performed, newborns are cared for, and children are treated after trauma, injuries, burns, oncological, neurological, cardiological and other severe diseases. It is one of the key pediatric medical centers in western Ukraine, where families come not only from Lviv and the region, but also from other parts of the country.

The full-scale war has significantly increased the burden on the hospital. Lviv has become one of the main medical hubs for children who were forced to leave frontline and temporarily occupied territories, as well as for patients whose hospitals in their hometowns were damaged, overloaded or partially lost their capacity because of the war. Families from different regions turn to St. Nicholas Hospital, including from areas where the medical system works every day under the pressure of air raid alerts, shelling, evacuations and staff exhaustion.

For children with congenital heart defects, time is crucial. Some defects can be monitored on a planned basis, but critical conditions require immediate intervention. If a newborn needs surgery within the first hours of life, doctors cannot face delays because of a lack of consumables. Everything necessary must be available in the operating room and intensive care unit here and now.

On average, about 200 children of different ages with congenital heart defects are operated on each year at St. Nicholas Hospital. A significant number of them are newborns with critical defects who need surgery within the first 6 hours of life. For these children, cardiac surgery is not planned treatment - it is their only chance to survive.

During heart surgery and treatment in intensive care, doctors need to continuously see how the child’s cardiovascular system is functioning. One of the key indicators is blood pressure. In critical conditions, measuring it with a standard cuff is not enough. Accurate, continuous invasive monitoring is needed.

This is what invasive arterial blood pressure sensors are used for. They are connected to a catheter in an artery or vein and transmit data to the patient monitor. Doctors see the readings in real time and can respond immediately if the pressure drops, rises or changes dangerously fast.

For newborns and children with severe heart defects, this level of accuracy is critical. Their bodies are extremely sensitive to any changes. During surgery, after intervention, in intensive care or during ECMO support, every indicator helps doctors make decisions: adjust medications, infusion volumes, cardiac support, breathing and circulation.

During one operation, a child may need at least two sensors - for an artery and a vein. If the patient is connected to ECMO, three more sensors are required. Since the beginning of the year, the hospital has already used 18 sensors for ECMO patients alone. If a child stays in intensive care for a long time, the sensors need to be replaced approximately once a week so that monitoring remains accurate and safe. During endovascular interventions, at least one sensor is always required as well.

IAT Philips/Edwards/026/4.0M adapter cables are also needed. They ensure that the sensors are connected to patient monitors and that data is transmitted correctly. Without such an adapter, the sensor cannot fully work with the monitoring system. In other words, this is a small but essential part of the entire chain of control: catheter - sensor - cable - monitor - doctor’s decision.

This is not equipment that can be purchased once and used for years. Invasive pressure sensors are consumables. They run out quickly because they are used during surgeries, in intensive care, during long-term treatment, during endovascular interventions and while caring for the most critically ill patients. But without them, it is impossible to safely manage a child with a severe heart defect.

The hospital has asked for support in purchasing:

• Edwards invasive arterial blood pressure sensors - 100 pcs.;
• IAT Philips/Edwards/026/4.0M adapter cables - 5 pcs.

These materials are needed to save children with congenital heart defects, especially newborns who require surgery in the first hours of life.

For doctors, these are not just sensors. They are the ability to see critical changes in a child’s body, control the course of surgery, manage a patient more safely in intensive care and not lose precious time.

For parents, this means a chance that everything necessary will be available for their child. That doctors will be able to act precisely. That a tiny heart will be under control at the most important moment.

When it comes to a child’s heart, the accuracy of measurements can be a matter of life. One sensor helps a doctor see danger in time. One timely reading can change the course of treatment. One operation performed under reliable monitoring can give a child a chance to live.

We are raising funds to purchase invasive arterial blood pressure sensors and adapter cables for St. Nicholas Hospital in Lviv.

Help doctors have everything they need to save children with congenital heart defects - in time, accurately and safely.