Oklahoma Baby Thrives After New Esophagus Surgery

November 27, 2009 by Cathy Ribble  
Filed under: News

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Daniela Cruz is thriving after University of Oklahoma surgeons used a new surgical technique to repair her esophagus.  She was born with a congenital birth defect known as esophageal atresia.  Her upper esophagus failed to connect with her lower esophagus, but rather her airway or windpipe.

Daniela was born on November 4, and her parents quickly knew something was wrong.  Daniela couldn’t eat without choking.  She was transported from a Lawton hospital to The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Ketina Cruz, mother of the 6-pound baby, said she has faith in the doctors.  “I was so relieved she was geting the help she needed.”  Daniela’s father, Michael Cruz, is a staff sergeant stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton.

Prior to her surgery, Daniela had to be fed intravenously. The esophageal birth defect occurs in about one in 4,000 live births.

During a news conference earlier this week, OU Health Sciences Center physician Niki Puffinbarger said, “It’s a rare and lethal condition but completely curable with surgery.”

Instead of performing traditional surgery that opens the chest wall and leaves a large scar with possible chest deformation, OU surgeons opted for their first thoracoscopic surgery to repair Daniela’s esophageal defect.  The surgery require only a tiny incision in the baby’s chest to insert a camera and surgical instruments.

Michael Cruz happily reports that his daughter was able to begin taking a bottle within days after the surgery.

“She was ready to eat,” he said.  “She was pretty eager.”

Daniela is now three weeks old and eating normally.  She spent her first Thanksgiving at home in Lawton with her two teenage siblings.

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