Medical equipment should work!

When a long hope baby is born, a mother is primarily concerned about his/her health of course. And only due to her observancy and pediatrician’s competence it is possible to timely determine deviations in the development of the child during the first days of his/her life. Especially if the life of a child with cystic fibrosis is put at risk. Although cystic fibrosis (mucoviscidosis) is the most common hereditary disease, it is not always diagnosed at an early age.

It has too many manifestations – to different degrees, different organs that produce mucus can be affected in different patients: bronchopulmonary system, pancreas, liver, intestinal glands, sweat, salivary, genital glands. And the later the diagnosis is made, the more complications the disease manages to give. That's why screening for the presence of the disease in the early days of babies' life is so important. Today, due to a technical malfunction of the equipment, children not only of the Zaporizhzhia region but of entire south-eastern Ukraine are temporarily deprived of the opportunity to conduct early examinations. And this is the loss of such precious time!

Newborns have one of the indicative diagnostic criteria – very salty sweat. Salt crystals may even appear on the forehead, above the eyebrows. The Nanoduct system is designed for infants, but it is also suitable for patients of any age. A small sensor allows carrying out an analysis with just 3 microliters of sweat! With sufficiently mature glands, this procedure usually takes 6 minutes after attaching the sensor. Here is such early diagnosis and timely treatment can significantly improve the quality and life expectancy of a child born with cystic fibrosis.

In the pulmonary department of Zaporizhia Regional Clinical Child Health Centre, the Nanoduct apparatus has been helping doctors to determine the presence of this diagnosis in the early stages of a child’s life for many years. Therefore, the lack of the possibility of such examinations leads to a delay in treatment and, as a result, to further complications.

We ask everyone ready to support our children in the fight against the disease, to help in repairing such important and irreplaceable equipment!