Baby survives against all odds, with the help of Viagra every four hours

Published on 17/08/2009 22:57

A BABY boy born with his stomach in his chest, a hole in his heart and a rare lung disorder is being kept alive with the help of the impotence drug Viagra.

Owen Bloomfield, who is three-and-a-half weeks old, was not expected to survive a week as a result of his complex condition. His parents Ronnie Bloomfield and Jennifer Strachan were told their son was so ill that switching off his life support might be the only option.

But three weeks on and against all the odds, he has amazed medical staff by his remarkable recovery.

Following major surgery to put his organs back in the right places, he is now starting to breathe on his own and is responding to medication, including Viagra. It is possible that, if his lung disorder does not improve, he will remain on the impotence drug for life.

Mr Bloomfield, 24, of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, said: "I thought it was an old man's drug, but Owen gets it every four hours. He has pulmonary hypertension and he's given it to open up the blood vessels in his lungs and lower his blood pressure."

Owen was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), which left him with an incomplete diaphragm – the breathing muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. As a result, his stomach, intestines, part of his liver and his spleen formed in his chest. He also has two extra spleens, although only one works.

He has a hole in his heart, which has yet to be corrected, and pulmonary hypertension, a rare and life-threatening blood vessel disorder of the lungs.

Miss Strachan received the devastating news that her son had CDH – which occurs in just one in every 2,500 births – at her 22-week scan. But the additional heart and lung complications did not become apparent until Owen arrived, on 23 July at Glasgow's Queen Mother's Hospital weighing 6lb 7oz.

Miss Strachan, 22, a beauty therapist, said: "The doctors said they had only known of one or two babies to survive with all three complications and if he didn't start to pick up in a week, we'd have to think about turning his medication off and letting him go peacefully.

"That was on the Tuesday and on the Wednesday he started to pick up."

Doctors said Owen might not survive the three-hour operation to put his organs in their correct places.

Miss Strachan said: "The three hours of his operation were the worst three of my life.

"But the doctors have said now there is no reason why he won't survive."

WONDER PILL

ALSO known as Sildenafil citrate or "the little blue pill", Viagra is an anti-impotence drug which improves blood flow by expanding blood vessels and opening the arteries.

It was developed and marketed by Pfizer and became available in 1998.

It was initially developed to treat high blood pressure and angina pectoris, a symptom of heart disease. However, Pfizer decided to market it for erectile dysfunction after clinical trials suggested that the drug had little effect on angina, but could induce erections.

Research in 2005 showed Viagra is also effective as a treatment for enlarged hearts resulting from high blood pressure.

It has been shown to be useful in preventing and treating high altitude pulmonary edema, when the lungs fill up with fluid as a result of the body adapting to high altitudes.