Only a few months after Michael Angelo was born to parents Jill and David Angelo, he was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare life-threatening liver disease that only appears in infants.
鈥淚t was really, really obvious on his baptism,鈥 said Jill. 鈥淗e was wearing white, so the jaundice was really showing, and the yellowish tint of his eyes was a lot more obvious.鈥
In most cases of biliary atresia, the only chance for survival is a liver transplant. After meeting with specialists at the Miami Transplant Institute, however, his parents were faced with another setback鈥攖his type of surgery had only ever been performed on babies weighing at least 13 pounds.
鈥淢ichael Angelo came to us at only 8 pounds, and if we can, we really like to wait until an infant is 13 or 14 pounds to be able to transplant them,鈥 said Dr. Jennifer Garcia, medical director of pediatric transplant services at the Miami Transplant Institute. 鈥淢ichael did not give us that opportunity. He was just too sick.鈥
Michael Angelo鈥檚 only chance for survival was a liver transplant, but his very small size presented a new challenge for surgeons.
Working quickly, Michael鈥檚 transplant team decided to utilize two new surgical technologies to make a liver transplant possible for him.
One of the technologies chosen was the 在线黑料门THUNDERBEAT鈩 advanced energy platform, which allows for very small and very precise surgical incisions.1 The other was the 在线黑料门ORBEYE鈩 video microscope, an imaging system that provides images magnified up to 26 times on a 4K 3D monitor.2
ORBEYE鈩 enables surgical teams to view high-resolution digital images on a 55-inch monitor, in detail not previously available without the use of microscope eyepieces.2 THUNDERBEAT鈩 provides the ability to access bipolar and ultrasonic energy simultaneously and without surgical instrument exchange.1 Combined, these two systems allow new levels of precision and efficiency during organ transplantation.
鈥淲e ended up accepting a liver from a two-year-old,鈥 explained Dr. Rodrigo Vianna, director of the Miami Transplant Institute. 鈥淏ut even still, it was very big so we had to cut just a piece.鈥
鈥淲e were left with very tiny vessels and structures we needed to reconstruct. We were very lucky to have these new technologies.鈥
Michael Angelo鈥檚 surgical team was able to increase their view of his tiny organs and complete the first-ever surgery of this kind. 鈥淚t is rare to use such a tiny piece of liver, but he needed it,鈥 said Dr. Vianna. 鈥淭hankfully everything worked out.鈥
Jill and David Angelo will be forever grateful for this technology, the medical expertise of Michael鈥檚 surgeons, and the donor鈥檚 family who chose to give their son the gift of life.
鈥淚 thank God every single day for this amazing team that helped save my son鈥檚 life,鈥 said Jill. 鈥淏ecause of them, we have our baby boy.鈥
“It鈥檚 unbelievable. I can鈥檛 believe we made it here.”
1 As with all electrosurgery instruments, inappropriate use can cause damage to tissue, both electrically and thermally.
2 The ORBEYE鈩 delivers three-dimensional video imagery that is four times more detailed than standard HD imagery and can be magnified to the power of 26X. Providing a larger and wider color range, which is more natural and realistic, the ORBEYE鈩 helps physicians reliably identify tissue boundaries and see blood vessels and lesions. With no delay in image processing, the ORBEYE鈩 delivers this information in real time, allowing for smoother surgical procedures. It is recommended to customize the ORBEYE鈩 exoscope to the needs of each specialty, with features such as Auto Focus, Near Infrared Imaging Capabilities and more. Individual user profiles offer enhanced customization to detailed settings on the ORBEYE鈩, the camera head and foot pedal. Near Infrared Imaging Capabilities are only available for neuro- vascular procedures in adult patients.
