CEDIMAT successfully performs cardiology procedure on child
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic.-A five-year-old boy diagnosed with complex Tetralogy of Fallot underwent interventional cardiac catheterization for the first time in the country in which a stent was placed in the right ventricular outflow tract , with the aim of improving his condition with the repair of his heart. Dr. Rebeca Pérez, coordinator of Pediatric Cardiology of the Centers for Diagnosis and Advanced Medicine and Medical and Telemedicine Conferences (CEDIMAT), said that this is the first time that this technique has been performed on a patient with this diagnosis in the Dominican Republic and it was performed by doctors John Breinholt, from the Gift of Life Foundation (GOLI) and Adabeyda Báez, pediatric cardiologist at CEDIMAT. Jenny Rodríguez, mother of Liam Yendy Segura, explained that her son is very well and that this intervention has been a blessing for her son and his family, since it has given him a total change. She reported that they received the diagnosis of his heart abnormality when he was just nine months old. She was told that due to his heart condition, her son could not have a normal life of a five-year-old boy. He got tired when playing and turned very purple. “It is the first time I have seen my son sweat from playing so much, I cried with joy when I saw him enjoy the game. With food it was the same, before the procedure he hardly ate food and now he does it like a child his age ”. In six months, this child will undergo open heart surgery to permanently correct his Tetralogy of Fallot. This procedure was carried out within the framework of the social conference held by CEDIMAT in collaboration with the Doctor Robert Reid Cabral Children’s Hospital, the Gift of Life International Foundation, the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo, the Gift of Life Foundation and la Fundación Latiendo Por Ti.
In addition to this patient, 10 children received open-heart surgery and were operated on by the local pediatric cardiovascular surgery team of CEDIMAT, led by Dr. Juan León and Dr. Rodrigo Soto from Gift of Life International. In addition, 14 patients underwent diagnostic or interventional cardiac catheterization.
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Brenda Small is the Operations Consultant at Gift of Life International. She assumed this role in 2012.
Brenda was inspired to help children in need with heart disease after her third child was born with a complex heart defect and underwent successful open-heart surgery in her first year of life. Brenda learned of Gift of Life International in 2006 at which time she established Gift of Life Los Angeles where she holds the position of President. Between 2008 and 2012, Brenda volunteered her time to help with Gift of Life International in addition to running Gift of Life Los Angeles.
From 2012 to 2022, Brenda held the position of Director of Operations for Gift of Life International. Today, she continues this lifesaving work as Operations Consultant. Brenda also implemented the Nutritional Program in El Salvador in 2008 which has now provided nutritional support to more than 250 children and their families. Brenda has traveled with many of the Gift of Life training teams and witnessed these precious lives being saved.
