LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- A premature infant in Britain has gone home from the hospital four weeks after receiving a pacemaker that was inserted when he was five days old.
Liam King was born six weeks early and doctors warned he was unlikely to survive more than 15 days. He was diagnosed with a congenital heart block while still in the womb, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday. The condition affects the electrical nerve impulses that regulate heart function, the newspaper said.
Doctors at Bristol Royal Hospital For Children inserted the pacemaker into the child's stomach. He is one of the youngest children in Britain to be fitted with the device, the newspaper said. Liam's parents said their son will need another surgery to move the pacemaker toward his shoulder and may eventually need a heart transplant.
--
Copyright 2008 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
--
