5778 Stats

During 5778:

• Over 56,000 children were treated in the ER, the largest in the country
• 201,000 visits were registered in the outpatient clinics and institutes
• 37 organ transplantations
• 38 bone marrow transplantations

Scores of children underwent organ transplantation at Schneider Children's during the past year, among them 5 children who received a new lease on life following a marathon of surgeries over 4 consecutive days. The first was conducted in a 5-month-old infant who suffered from a congenital defect in his bile duct and needed a liver transplant. His father donated a liver lobe. The second liver transplant was performed in a seven-month-old girl who also suffered from a congenital defect and received a liver lobe donated by her mother. Two other cadaveric livers were implanted into a girl aged 8 and a 10-month-old infant. A 15-year-old youngster received a kidney. Schneider Children's is one of the few pediatric hospitals in the world capable of conducting such a marathon of organ transplants.

For the first time in Israel, a liver lobe was donated altruistically and transplanted into an unrelated recipient, neither of whom knew the other. The 15-month-old recipient received the organ from a mother of 5 children whose courage saved the infant's life.

A 22-month-old girl arrived at Schneider with a fever. While in the ER, her lungs collapsed and she was immediately placed on an ECMO machine, which replaces the work of the heart and lungs allowing them to rest. The child remained on the ECMO machine for 68 days allowing her lungs to successfully recover despite the inherent dangers and complications of being on support for such a lengthy period. She was finally discharged after 103 days of hospitalization.

An infant was born at Schneider Children's through EXIT surgery - an extension of a standard caesarian section where the baby is partially delivered, while doctors establish an airway so the fetus can breathe. Once the EXIT is complete, the infant is fully delivered. EXIT (ex utero intrapartum treatment) procedures are rare and only a few have been done in the world. While still in utero, a pregnancy scan showed swelling in the region of the fetus’s neck raising fears that she might not be able to breathe independently upon birth. As this indeed was the case, doctors performed intubation to allow air to flow into her lungs, after which the umbilical cord was cut. She did not undergo further surgical intervention at this point as the blockage did not pose an immediate danger to her life. After a few hours, the infant was weaned off the ventilator and started to breathe on her own. This is the 5th time the EXIT procedure has been conducted at Schneider Children’s during the past two and-a-half years.

During the past year, Schneider Children’s introduced age-appropriate illustrative charts depicting the leukemia treatment process for children in the Hemato-Oncology Division. The initiative came from a mother whose daughter suffered from and survived leukemia. The project resulted through the support and cooperation of oncologists in the department.

A 13-year-old’s life was saved following emergency neurosurgery at Schneider Children’s. The youth was feeling unwell for several months until he fainted one morning at school. A CT showed a huge growth located in a strategic and sensitive place in the center of the brain. At the same time, his pupils began to dilate indicating raised intracranial pressure due to a blockage in the brain fluid caused by the growth. Imitating a meticulously planned military operation, the youngster was taken directly to the operating room. Within 3 minutes, a drainage pipe was inserted into his skull to release the brain fluid and decrease the pressure thus saving his life. When his condition stabilized, he underwent a 13-hour operationto remove the tumor. He was discharged 2 weeks later.

As part of the celebrations to mark Employees of the Year at Schneider Children’s, members of the Kululam Singers visited the hospital to conduct a mass singalong for staff, hospitalized children

and their families in the lobby of the hospital. Together, the audience sang the song “Or Gadol” (lit. Big Light), both in Hebrew and in Arabic. There was much excitement when Kululam went up to sing together with hospitalized children in the Oncology Department who were unable to participate in the happening in the lobby. The uniqueness of the event, the excitement of children and their families, alongside the sense of togetherness left few dry eyes in the audience.