Baby Miracle Chances “Extremely Poor”

Written by Prognosis Letter
Sunday, 11 November 2007
NZ Star Ship Hospital Specialists Write Prognosis On Baby Miracle To Counterparts In Samoa (copy of letter addressed to Samoan doctors) Thank you for your referral of Miracle which has been forwarded to me by Mr. Glenn Barlett, Plastic Surgeon at Middlemore Hospital. We are both of the opinion that it is important to clarify the prognosis for both life expectancy and quality of life before any surgical management plan is considered. I note from the information in your letter and that of Lealiifano Dr. I. Tanielu that Miracle has the following problems: 1 Anencephaly with malformation of the cranial vault and skin cover 2 Bilateral cleft lip 3 Cleft palate 4 Severe hyperteloriam 5 Thoracic meningomyelocoele 6 Limb anomalies 7 Failure to gain weight (current weight below birth weight) In addition from the still photos and video seen on the media in New Zealand, Miracle also appears to have: 8 Anophthalmia or microphthlmia 9 Frequent brief head jerks indicating a seizure disorder I and my pediatric neurologist colleague agree with your assessment that the prognosis is extremely poor and we would expect that this child will die. I do not think that any intervention could be offered by New Zealand that would change the long term prognosis for Miracle. As you know Miracle would not be accepted for treatment in New Zealand without a commitment to funding the whole cost of treatment prior to transfer. Usually this is provided by the Government of the country of origin, dependant on availability within that countries health budget. I understand that some funds have already been raised in New Zealand (I have heard a figure of $5000 mentioned). I would be happy to support you with counseling the family. If the family find it difficult to accept that specialists in New Zealand conour with you opinion, we could arrange a telemedicine link and consultation. A CT scan of the brain with 3D reconstruction of the skull and bones could provide useful images to demonstrate to the family the reasons why the prognosis is so poor. If a CT scan could be arranged in Samoa (I am not sure whether you have access to a CT scanner in Apia, I understand there is one in Pago Pago) then the images could be emailed to us in New Zealand to provide a further opinion. One area of concern that I have is whether this is a genetically medicated condition – it would certainly be a tragedy for this family to have a subsequent affected child. I note that the mother is primiparous – have there been any miscarriages of fetal deaths? With kind regards Yours Sincerely Rosemary Marks PAEDIATRICIAN DEVELOPMENT PAEDIATRICS Medical Council No: 10344 Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed she needs your help written by magz, November 19, 2007 peopole make a donation to this poor baby girl BYE BYE Wish u well Pepe Girl written by Tala Ropeti-Leo, November 21, 2007 My heart goes out to the family and especially pepe miracle... i kno its hard but i pray that God provides you wit the proper needs.. remember God never gives you moire than you can handle......You will Get thru it..me n my husband have two girls and if anything happenned to our girls it would be terrible..i hope and pray you will get thru it.... Love yah Alofau, Tala, Haarmony and Hazel Leo Pago Pago , American Samoa Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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