A multidisciplinary team of doctors at the Clinical Centre for Paediatric Medicine has carried out complex treatment for one-and-a-half-year-old Artem from Ivano-Frankivsk, who was found to have a rare tongue condition. Because of the anomaly, the boy could not suck, swallow or feed independently.
From birth, the child was diagnosed with Pierre Robin sequence with a palate defect. In the very first months of life it became clear that Artem could not eat on his own, was not gaining weight, had breathing difficulties and required tube feeding. His condition remained severe: he experienced shortness of breath, oxygen dependence, frequent episodes of agitation and crying, his respiratory rate reached 70 per minute, and his oxygen saturation was unstable. The boy was repeatedly admitted to hospital, underwent intensive care and even required a tracheostomy to support his breathing.
During a detailed examination, specialists at the centre identified an additional anatomical feature that is extremely untypical for Pierre Robin sequence: the tongue was displaced and, on one side, fused to the lower jaw, effectively immobile. This was precisely what prevented effective sucking and swallowing and became the key reason why he was unable to feed independently.
After the child’s condition had stabilised and he had gained some weight, the doctors decided to perform surgery on the tongue. A team of specialists was brought in: thoracic surgeon and head of department Oleh Leniv, maxillofacial surgeon Khrystyna Pohranychna, maxillofacial surgeon Roman Ohonovskyi, anaesthetist and head of department Vira Pryimakova, paediatrician and head of department Roksoliana Dub, paediatricians Myroslava Kushnir, Zoriana Slobotska and Liudmyla Hatalyak, and paediatrics intern Anna Vozniak. Their teamwork made it possible to pinpoint the cause of the disorders and determine the optimal treatment strategy.
The tongue surgery became a turning point. After the operation, Artem began to eat on his own, started gaining weight actively, his physical development improved and he began to speak. The boy’s mother, Oksana, recalls that the period before the operation was extremely difficult for the family.
«After the operation he started eating on his own, he shot up, he grew… Before that, it was a very difficult period,» the boy’s mother says.
Artem is now 1 year and 9 months old. According to his mother, he has not only caught up with his peers, but in some aspects of development has even overtaken them. In the photos released by the medical facility, the teams of paediatricians and neonatologists, anaesthetists and maxillofacial surgeons who took part in the child’s treatment are shown.