Infant's surgery breaks ground

Pedro Espinoza cradles his 3-pound son and gently teeters in his rocking chair so as not to disturb the wires tracking tiny heartbeats under young Leonel's yellow blanket.

Edith Espinoza sits in a rocking chair next to his, clutching Leonel's twin sister, Leslye, whose black hair peaks out from a pink and white blanket.

They are both precious cargo to this Schaumburg couple. And they are equally precious to the suburban hospital where they will have to stay for a few more days.

Not due until December, the twins came into the world 12 weeks early. The couple's first children were born Sept. 16 at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates.

After closely examining the babies, doctors identified that Leonel's heart hadn't fully developed. He would need surgery, but at 2 pounds, 5 ounces, doctors would have to wait until he was larger.

Their parents also endured the wait.

"We were sad because he was really small and tiny to have the surgery," Pedro Espinoza said through a translator.

They also prayed a lot.

Last week, doctors at St. Alexius braved new ground by repairing Leonel's heart. It marked the first such surgery performed at the hospital.

St. Alexius hopes such surgeries will be more commonplace once it builds its $25 million children's hospital. It plans to open the facility in 2011.

Dr. Srikumar Pillai used a titanium clamp to fix an abnormal circulation of blood between two of the major arteries near the heart.

Due to patent ductus arteriosus, blood flowed directly from his aorta into the lungs. If left untreated, it could have led to heart failure.

All babies have this opening, but it typically closes after birth in all but about 3,000 babies each year in the United States. Premature babies, like Leonel, are more susceptible because the lungs aren't mature.

Pillai has performed the surgery before on babies as small as 1 pound at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he trained at a doctor. But his surgery on 3-pound Leonel was a first for St. Alexius. Previously, the closest hospital that would do the procedure on such a small child was Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

While born at St. Alexius, the babies were too premature to stay there and were moved to a hospital in Rockford better equipped to deal with their special needs.

After about a month's stay, the twins, now larger, returned to St. Alexius so Leonel could undergo the surgery.

Creating the new children's hospital would avoid the need for such a transfer for young babies born at St. Alexius. Moving babies that young can create more problems.

"That's where the risk is," said neonatologist Dr. Martin J. Kelly. "The transferring of these babies is more dangerous than the surgeries."

Edith Espinoza smiles as she talks of bringing the young twins home within a few days. The family plans to celebrate with some type of party. She's thankful for the surgeons. Doctors report the babies have no complications due to their premature birth.

And she says having her babies closer to her Schaumburg home has brought peace of mind.