By Josephine Maseruka

LOOKING at the little Aziz Abdulla Ssegujja on oxygen in the intensive care unit at the International Hospital Kampala, there was no doubt that he had just undergone a big operation. As he lay on his back with a blank expression, the surgeons kept watch.

Since Saturday, the hospital has conducted six open-heart operations, bringing to 13 the cases done since April 2007. This time, the UK-based Ghanaian cardiac expert, Dr. Clement Agyin, with a team of local and foreign doctors, conducted a more complicated surgery known as the Tetralogy of a Fallot’s.

Ssegujja’s condition, which one is born with, bears four abnormalities: a hole in the heart, a defective narrow pulmonary valve, obstructed flow through the lungs and a mal-positioned aorta (the largest blood vessel in the human body).

Dr. Agyin explained that eight-year-old Ssegujja could not walk. His oxygenated blood was mixing with the de-oxygenated blood, making him have 68% oxygen in his blood as opposed to 98% in a normal person.

“He was retarded, had shortness of breath, he could not walk and often squatted. His lips and tongue had turned blue. Though still in the intensive care unit, his body systems are working better than before the eight-hour surgery that was conducted on Monday,” Agyin stated. For Aziz’s parents, Nasser and Fatima Ssegujja of Kawempe, it was a miracle come true that their son was getting a new life.

Dr. Ian Clarke, the proprietor of IHK, said: “This is one of the most technically challenging congenital heart condition any team can deal with and the first of its kind in Uganda.”

The team of 12 experts included Dr. Moses Galukande, a senior surgeon and Dr. Michael Oketcho from Mulago Hospital. The anaesthesia team was composed of Dr. Stephen Ttendo and Dr. Joseph Ejoku.

Others were Dr. Edward Khandazhapov, a Russian and John Nelson, a British perfusionist, who ran the heart-lung machine.

The nurses were Lillian Nakayiza, Maureen Dhabangi and Sumine Okullo.

Galukande explained that other operations involved repairing the pulmonary valve, patching two holes in the heart and correcting the Aortic blood flow.

Simon Okoth, a Senior Six student, was among those operated upon. He had an obstruction in the Aoarta and his heart was twice the normal size.

The others operated on were Kennedy Komakech, 27, Yvonne Akello, 7, Linton Ayebale, 8 and Mark Mwesigwa 18.

All the operations were funded by Sung-Hwan Kim, the proprietor of Hwan Sung Charity and the honourary Consul of South Africa to Uganda, who contributed $30,000 (about sh55m).

This is the second time Kim is funding the surgeries. The first time he offered sh60m to five patients, who were operated on in October. Each operation took about $7,000 (sh12m), half of what it would cost in India. In the UK it costs $50,000 (sh80m).

IHK, through its charity organisation, Hope Ward, is appealing for more sponsors to help 30 heart patients due for operation in May, August and November.

Thanks to continued support from:

• Hwan Sung Medical Charity Services
• Dr Clement Agyin and his colleagues in St. Anthony’s Hospital, Cheam
• Inverness Medical UK
• and the Medical and Support staff at International Hospital Kampala

the following will each recieve life changing care:

1. Simon (Valve Repair)
2. Mark (ASD Closure)
3. Abdallah (VSD Closure)
4. Linton (Valve repair )
5. Yvonnie (PDA)
6. Kenndey (Valve Repair).

Read more about our Heart Surgery Programme here…

Sponsorship has been pledged by Hwan Sung.

Essential consumables for the Blood Gas Analyser (provided in September by Cardiac Report Limited) have been purchased from Inverness Medical UK, which has kindly provided a very significant discount on its list price. Funding for these supplies has been given by the husband of one of Clement’s UK patients who wrote to us saying:

“With thanks to Dr Clement Agyin who helped save my wife’s life in St. Anthony’s Hospital in Cheam”

Clement’s work colleagues at St Anthony’s have raised funding to help buy the equipment necessary for the monitoring of 3 ITU beds; instead of buying Christmas cards and other presents for colleagues they put the money in a gift box for Clement’s work in Hope Ward, IHK.

Read more here…

The cost of these operations was covered by the £20,000 raised at a charity concert in Kampala at the end of June; over £17,000 of which came from one sponsor, Hwan Sung Medical Charity Services.

Suubi Trust helped provide essential equipment for these operations; a Heat Exchanger, worth about £20,000, generously donated by Morriston Hospital, Swansea and a Blood Gas Analyser, worth just over £5,000, generously bought by Dr Richard Bogle, an interventional cardiologist and owner of Cardiac Report Limited.

KAMPALA International Hospital (IHK) has once again successfully carried out open heart surgeries. Five operations, worth $35,000 (over sh61m), were carried out last week.

The five patients operated on in the last five days are Patrick Imoni, 30, Thabit Senfuka, 24, Afra Namirimu, 10, Rashid Matovu, 8, and Dan Bakira, who is one year and four months old.

Addressing the press at the hospital headquarters in Namuwongo yesterday, IHK director Dr. Ian Clarke, who described it as a breakthrough, said the operations were more complicated than the last. They involved cardiopulmonary (heart-lung) bypass, valve repairs and sealing heart holes.

“We are happy that Mulago Hospital and us are doing brilliant things together. We did the first round of open-heart surgery and there were all sorts of appeals to equip us. We have the ability to do it, we just need leadership,” Clarke said.

This is the second time the hospital has carried out heart surgery. Two patients were operated on in April. They were the first people to have their hearts corrected in a Ugandan hospital. Most heart patients go abroad for treatment.

“A full normal life is expected for the five patients now that they have undergone this surgery successfully,” said Clarke. “They are to be discharged between the 7th and 10th post-operation day,” he added.

IHK’s first heart patients, Mark Atwine and David Kalenjera, have fully recovered.

The IHK director said the hospital had fulfilled its promise to carry out heart surgeries on a regular basis, and appealed to the Government and companies to come to their aid and sponsor patients who need treatment.

Last week’s operations, which cost $7,000 per patient, were sponsored by Hwan Sung Group of Companies. More surgeries at the hospital are scheduled for February, May, August and November next year.

“We plan to carry out valve replacements next year. Many patients needing heart surgery in Uganda need it for malfunctioning valves,” said Dr. Moses Galukande, a general surgeon and the heart surgery project manager at IHK.

Sung-Hwan Kim, the chairman of Hwan Sung, told the press conference that he was pleased to give new lives to five Ugandans.

“I think five lives are far more valuable than $35,000 and it is my way of giving back our business profits to the society. “I will develop and expand, step by step, these free medical services to help poor patients continuously in future. I hope that the beneficiaries will be as many as possible,” Sung, who is also the Korean consul to Uganda said.

Excitement over and contentment with IHK’s strides in heart surgery were visible on the faces of the heart surgery team.

The lead cardiothoracic surgeon in both the first and second operations has been Dr. Clement Akomea Agyin, a British national of Ghanaian descent, working at St. Anthony’s Hospital in London. He was assisted by Tom Mwambu from Mulago Hospital and Galukande. The intensive care team consisted of Dr. Edward Khandazapov and nurse Lillian Nakayiza and her team.

The support department included laboratory nurses, pharmacy staff, bio-technicians, general ward nursing, general administrative team’s Rachael Anuwo and Dr. Michael Muhame. The anaethesiologist team was led by Dr. Stephen Ttendo assisted by Cephas Mijumbi of Mulago Hospital, Dr. Joseph Ejoku and Dr. Ronald Nangamba.

The patients for October are a little more complicated than the first two; they all need urgent operation.

Patrick Imoni 30 yrs ECHO: Large Atrial Septal Defect, Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation, Pulmonary Hypertension.
Thabit Senfuka 24 yrs ECHO: Large Primum Atrial Septal Defect and Ventricular Septal Defect.
Rashid Matovu 8 yrs ECHO: Large Atrial Septal Defect and Pulmonary Stenosis.
Caroline Kyaligonza 11 yrs ECHO: Large Atrial Septal Defect and Mitral Regurgitation.
Dan Bakira 11 mths ECHO: Atio-ventricular Septal Defect.

We need to raise £1,000 this month to transport a heat exchanger to Kampala, in time for the next set of heart surgeries in October.

It’s very easy to make a one off contribution; you can send us a cheque, transfer funds directly to our bank or use your credit card online through our secure link at CAF Bank. You can even do this anonymously, though using Gift Aid will increase your contribution by 28%.

You will find details of how to give at our website here.

Heart Surgery at Hope Ward.

In April this year Hope Ward performed the first two heart surgeries in Uganda.

The significance of these first open heart surgeries is not only that patients who have been awaiting this procedure can now be treated within their own country, but that a benchmark has been established. International Hospital Kampala has been working steadily over the past number of years to reach the standards necessary to perform such high level surgery.

The operations were performed by a team of 14 professionals, led by Dr Clement Akomea Agyin, a consultant cardiac surgeon, currently working in St Anthony’s Hospital London and perfusionist Mr John Francis Nelson. Others in the medical team are Ugandan nationals living and working in Kampala.

In making this happen Hope Ward has not just brought benefit to the individual patients, but has started to increase the capacity of the medical profession in Uganda thus helping to close the gap between third world and first world medicine.

We are now making final arrangements for another 5 surgeries in October.

Each operation costs about £4,000; at the end of June almost £20,000 was raised at a charity concert in Kampala; just over £17,000 of this came from one sponsor, Hwan Sung Medical Charity Services.

In the last few weeks Morriston Hospital, Swansea, has generously donated a Heat Exchanger worth about £20,000. This is a combined heater/cooler unit that is used during open heart surgery to cool the patient’s blood and therefore the patient down to 28 deg C. It then warms up the patient to 37 deg before coming off the cardiopulmonary bypass. Our thanks to Morriston and Mr Meakin, Chief Perfusionist at that hospital.

Please consider helping.

Kind regards,

Kevin.
Chairman: Suubi Trust.

Read more about Heart Surgery at Hope Ward…