Lagos: The Duchess International Hospital has performed a successful complex open-heart surgery on a five-year-old boy, known as Master D, who was born with a life-threatening congenital heart condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). This condition is a significant heart defect affecting the normal flow of blood through the heart and lungs.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the multidisciplinary surgical team, led by Dr. Mudasiru Salami, carried out the procedure over three days in May 2025, marking a significant medical achievement for the hospital. Dr. Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey, Chief Executive Officer of Duchess International Hospital, explained that the complex surgery was performed in stages over approximately 14 hours between May 19 and May 21, 2025.
Shitta-Bey highlighted that a combined team of specialised cardiac surgeons, anaesthetists, perfusionists, and intensivists, led by Salami, a Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, achieved this milestone. Master D has since made a recovery under the intensive care team of the hospital’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and has been transferred for routine observation in the Paediatrics ward.
He further explained that in a normal heart, blood flows to the lungs from the right chambers to receive oxygen. In a heart affected by ToF, the defect causes blood low in oxygen to flow in the wrong direction, bypassing the lungs and resulting in low energy levels. Master D exhibited signs such as blue discolouration, fatigue, shortness of breath, and recurring chest infections.
Shitta-Bey detailed that the patient suffered from four component malformations, including a hole between the heart chambers, narrowing of the valve carrying blood to the lungs, thickening of the heart muscle due to increased pressure, and poor positioning of the main artery allowing blood to bypass the lungs.
In developed health systems, this condition is typically treated within six to nine months of birth to prevent complications. However, Master D’s case was delayed until five years of age. Salami explained that during the surgery, the heart was arrested for five and a half hours, but it resumed function immediately, highlighting the success of the procedure.
Salami credited teamwork, clinical expertise, and advanced medical technology at the hospital for the successful outcome. He also thanked hospital staff for donating blood for the patient. Mrs. Olutope Adetona, the patient’s mother, expressed gratitude to the hospital for saving her son’s life and urged parents to seek help for any family challenges.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Duchess International Hospital, opened on Oct. 22, 2021, has been a leader in providing quality healthcare in Nigeria and Africa. The hospital has reversed the trend of medical tourism and built confidence in healthcare services, attracting Nigerians from the diaspora to seek treatment in Lagos.
