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05 April 2021A girl born with an intestine instead of a lung, due to a very rare and severe form of diaphragmatic hernia, was saved by doctors at the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin, thanks to a surgical procedure which was followed up. a liver transplant.
A story that began in the twentieth week of gestation, when an ultrasound scan found in the fetus the presence of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a rare malformation in which the intestine can move into the chest and compromise the normal development of the lungs.
The mother is then taken care of by the antenatal diagnostic team of the Sant'Anna hospital and the pregnancy is monitored until the birth of the baby, which took place in November 2019. The little girl is admitted to pediatric intensive care at the Regina Margherita hospital, and after two days of intensive treatment, he undergoes a delicate surgery to correct the diaphragmatic hernia.
The appearance of other problems prolong the stay in intensive care until March 2020 and then make it necessary to stay in the pediatric pneumology department.
Over the months the respiratory situation is further complicated because the little girl develops a cholestatic liver disease that determines the abnormal enlargement of the liver, with a compressive effect on the chest.
This leads to the decision to place the child on the waiting list for a liver transplant, which immediately presents itself at very high risk.
The wait for a suitable organ extends for months, during which the little one contracts and overcomes the Covid-19 infection.
Thanks to the Piedmont Regional Transplant Coordination, in November 2020 the ideal liver arrives, coming from a donor who has also returned from Covid.
This is how the transplant is carried out at the Molinette hospital.
In a few days the time for discharge will finally arrive, after a hospitalization that lasted a year and five months from the day of birth.