Madagascar: 1st open-heart surgery in history!

From May 21 to 24, 2024, La Chaîne de l’Espoir carried out another heart surgery mission in Madagascar. It was an unprecedented and historic mission, as during these few days four children underwent open-heart surgery.

Never before seen in a pediatric cardiac surgery center in Madagascar!

After Zalissa in Burkina Faso in 2021, it’s Marielle ‘s turn to make medical history in her country.

Aged 13, she is the first patient to undergo open-heart surgery at a pediatric cardiac surgery center in Madagascar.

This highly successful medical first took place on Tuesday May 21 at the Centre Hospitalier de Soavinandriana (CENHOSOA) in Antananarivo , in close partnership with the CHU de La Réunion, which, alongside La Chaîne de l’Espoir, plays a key role in the development of open-heart surgery in Madagascar.

Marielle’s six-hour operation was led by Dr Pierre Maminirina, a Malagasy surgeon from the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Nantes, assisted by Dr Harijaona Fanomezantsoa Randrianandrina from CENHOSOA. The surgery was carried out with the support and assistance of a medical-surgical team. The team was made up of 14 volunteers from the association, representing various specialties and coming from the university hospitals of La Réunion, Nantes and Bordeaux.

After their operation, Marielle, Bryan, Elydel and Anjara, also known as Finoana, were discharged from hospital and moved into the Anyma Social Center, where they are being housed by our association for the duration of their post-operative care.

The culmination of several years’ preparation and hard work, these first 4 open-heart operations at CENHOSOA are part of a regional project to identify and develop pediatric heart surgery in theIndian Ocean. This project, led by La Chaîne de l’Espoir, is supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Crédit Agricole La Réunion Mayotte, and many other partners.

To ensure the long-term future of this major medical advance, and to transfer to the medical and paramedical teams the skills needed for the medical management of more complex cardiac pathologies, a schedule has already been drawn up. Three to four medical-surgical missions will be carried out each year over the next three years. These missions will also enable us to treat some 50 patients currently awaiting open-heart surgery.

The success of these first operations is a ray of hope for many Malagasy children suffering from heart disease. For them, it means the promise of a better quality of life, thanks to specialized medical care available in their own country.