New surgery heals Russian girls’ hearts

Bill San Antonio

Katya Lebedeva and Anastasia Bakhitarova were born with holes in their hearts that their native Russia could not fix.

But thanks to the Russian Gift of Life program, Lebedeva, 15, and Bakhitarova, 10, were brought to St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn to treat their ventricular septal defects, a condition caused by a hole between the two lower chambers of the heart.

On Oct. 2, the girls successfully underwent a new, minimally invasive procedure in which a catheter-like device navigated their arteries and plugged the space.

“The technology is a miracle for children who generations ago would have to undergo major surgery,” said Dr. Sean Levchuck, the hospital’s chairman of pediatric cardiology who performed the procedures, in a statement. “After recuperating at the hospital overnight, they can begin playing outdoors the very next day.”

The Russian Gift of Life program is a humanitarian organization that has sponsored more than 400 life-saving procedures for children at hospitals like St. Francis, which donate their medical services, according to a news release.

Ventricular septal defect is the most common form of congential heart disease, which causes a pressure difference between the right and left chambers that forces the heart to work harder, according to the release.

If the condition is left uncorrected, the patient’s quality of life can shorten considerably and he may eventually suffer heart failure, according to the release.

According to the release, the condition prevented the girls from participating in sports.

But Lebedeva, an aspiring ballerina, said she cannot wait to take dance classes, according to the release. Bakhitarova said she looks forward to learning to ski and play volleyball.

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