Pediatric surgery success story in St. Peter’s University Hospital

Moments after he was born, little Hamza Haque, son of Sharmin Khan and Manuel Haque, began turning blue and the staff at Saint Peter’s University Hospital realized that the newborn’s blood oxygen was below the safe threshold of 90 %. Hamza was quickly hooked up to oxygen to stabilize his levels, but these plummeted whenever the oxygen was removed. Further examination revealed that he was suffering from a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH); at only 3 days old, he underwent a very specialized operation to correct the problem.

CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to close during prenatal development, allowing contents of the abdomen (stomach, intestines and/or liver) to move into the chest cavity. The condition can lead to severe respiratory problems in addition to impeding the development of the lungs and therefore requires surgery days or weeks after birth. CDH affects about 1 in every 4,000 babies and can be caught during routine prenatal ultrasounds, but at times may also be undetected until after birth.

Dr. Lindsey Grier Arthur III, chair of the Department of Surgery at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and surgeon-in-chief at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, was able to perform Hamza’s life-saving surgery thoracoscopicly, a minimally invasive procedure using three, 5-millimeter incisions vs. the traditional procedure which involves opening the abdominal cavity via a large incision. The benefits of thoracoscopic surgery include faster recovery, less pain and scarring, and improved patient outcomes. This is especially important for pediatric patients so they can resume their active lives as soon as possible.