Brazil
São José do Rio Preto
Brazil, a country of nearly 203 million people, is estimated to have 28,000 new cases of congenital heart disease (CHD) every year. Roughly 6,000 to 7,000 children receive cardiac surgery per year.
There are approximately 12 centers in the entire country capable of handling pediatric CHD, six of which lie in São Paulo state. One of these centers is Children’s HeartLink’s partner site, Hospital de Base, in São José do Rio Preto. The hospital began its pediatric cardiac program in 2002 and is in the process of building a new children’s hospital, Hospital de Criança, adjacent to the existing facility. When Hospital de Criança is completed, it will have 300 beds and be one of the largest pediatric specialty hospitals in Brazil.
Children’s HeartLink began working with Hospital de Base in September 2009. Medical volunteer teams from Mayo Clinic, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital help support our work with Hospital de Base.
Children's HeartLink and our medical volunteers have traveled several times on full team cardiac training visits to Brazil, training Hospital de Base staff and working side-by-side with them, providing patient screening and treatment.
Patient Stories:
Camila, treated in June 2010 for a ventricular septal defect (VSD). You can read her story here.
Italo, treated in January 2011. Read Italo's story here.
Accomplishments:
Since Children's HeartLink partnered with Hospital de Base, medical volunteers have noted improvements in:
- Critical care skills and practice improvements (especially nursing), surgery and perfusion
- Teamwork and interdisciplinary communication
- Awareness and support for pediatric cardiac services
A Portuguese version of the Children's HeartLink fact sheet is available for download.
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