Doctors credit 'miracle' as woman’s heart beat again after 72 hours in China
A group of physicians saved the life of a 26-year-old woman after her heart stopped beating for 72 hours.
Share It :
This is regarded as a "miracle", demonstrating the persistence and awesomeness to life on the part of the group of doctors.
It happened on Jan. 1 in east China's Fujian Province. A 26-year-old woman was taken to an emergency room of a teaching hospital of Xiamen University. When the doctors came to her rescue, the patient suddenly suffered from ventricular fibrillation and then her heart stopped beating and she lost consciousness. She was diagnosed as myocarditis.
After 20 minutes of CPR, her heartbeat didn't restore. Then the doctors decided to use the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to substitute for her lungs and heart.
"ECMO can replace the cardio-pulmonary function so as to maintain the blood supply after heart arrest," said Emergency Physician Yang Chengbin.
But the patient's heart failed to beat again after more than two hours of rescue. Rather, the patient remained unconscious, with the pupils dilated. In terms of clinical medicine, the patient may be declared dead. But the medical team didn't give up. They decided to send her to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to continue the rescue operation.
"She is still in the prime of her age. She is only too young and has never had any other illnesses before. For me, I must make every effort to create the conditions that will give even a slim chance to survive," said ICU Doctor Zhang Minwei.
In the ICU that night, the doctors used different instruments and meters, such as breathing machine and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) to support the patient's heart, lungs and kidney.
Fortunately, the patient came to the next day morning and her heart began to beat again and restored its partial functions 72 hours later.
"I saw her eyes open and tried to talk to her. I said 'do you want some water to drink? If you do, hold my hand.' She reached my hand and held it. I definitely realized that she has come back to life," said Zhang Minwei.
A simple movement enabled the rescuing medical group to see the infinite possibilities of life.
The patient's heart restored pumping blood automatically on Jan. 6 and three days later, her blood pressure and respiration became steady and she thoroughly restored her consciousness. The doctors then went on with the treatment of the kidney and limbs function recovery.
"I feel that every life requires an all-out rescue effort and the ending this time is perfect," said ICU Physician Xu Hao.
