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Their countries, their pathologies, their histories
There are 1 in 100 children in the world,
they were born with a severe heart defect,
they live in poor countries,
They cannot be operated in their country,
they need you.
have been operated since the Association's inception in 1996 from 70 countries around the world.
All over the world, children are born with life-threatening congenital heart diseases. In the most serious cases, our teams do everything possible to save them. Manydeveloping countries do not have the appropriatemedical and surgical facilities to treat them due to lack of technical and financial resources.
These underprivileged sick children are identified and reported to Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque by our referral doctors in the countries, by their parents, by other associations working on the spot, during humanitarian missions in the countries, or by individuals who have heard about our mission through the media.
When a child's heart disease is detected, we ask the medical team on site and the family to fill in a complete medical and social file containing information on the child's illness, state of health and living conditions. It is on the basis of this file that a decision is made as to whether or not the child will come to France for an operation. Those who will be taken in charge are selected according to criteria of seriousness, urgency and feasibility.
Dr Marielle Gouton and Lisy, 8 years old, mission in Brazzaville, Congo.
Each year, more than 200 children with heart disease are taken care of by the Association and operated on in 9 cities in France.
Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque takes care of children with congenital or infectious heart diseases. The operations performed are complex surgical operations that affect an extraordinary but ultimately very simple organ: the heart. We are receiving more and more referrals from underprivileged countries and from countries suffering from health, economic, political or climatic crises. In concrete terms, this means a significant increase in the number of children operated on. To help us take care of them and welcome them, we need you:
Congenital does not mean hereditary.
This is not (or very rarely) a parental transmission, but a "malformation" that occurred in the very early stages of pregnancy, and for which, in the vast majority of cases, there is no cause.
Its frequency is quite high: 0.8% of births.
The malformations are of 3 types:
Malformations can be simple (one anomaly) or very complex (association of several anomalies).
It is mainly due to rheumatic fever (RAA). Ancient medical books said of this mysterious disease: "it licks the joints and bites the heart" ...
Angina, pain in the joints and a few years later very serious damage to the heart valves: these valves, especially the mitral valve and the aortic valve, will become too narrow or, on the contrary, will leak by not closing properly: these are mitral stenosis (MR), mitral insufficiency (MI), aortic insufficiency (AI), etc.
This disease, caused by streptococcus and its toxin, has practically disappeared from developed countries but still wreaks havoc in developing countries. Better hygiene, and therefore better living conditions, and antibiotic treatment of strep throat are the conditions for the disappearance of this serious disease.
By becoming a Host Family, you enable the teams at Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque to bring these children in.
Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque takes care of children with congenital or infectious heart diseases. The operations performed are complex surgical operations that affect an extraordinary but ultimately very simple organ: the heart. We are receiving more and more referrals from underprivileged countries and from countries suffering from health, economic, political or climatic crises. In concrete terms, this means a significant increase in the number of children operated on. To help us take care of them and welcome them, we need you:
Every year at Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, we make a point of honouring host families during the "Family Day". A day to get together, meet and exchange ideas in a warm and friendly atmosphere!
Fostering a child is a big adjustment for our volunteer foster families. They all agree that children bring a lot to them, more than they bring to the children. This is the case of Nadège and her children Camille (19 years old), Alice (16 years old) and Maria (9 years old), who received little Moïse in their home for 2 months. At the age of 5, this little Burkinabé was for them a beautiful example of courage and wisdom.
Junior, a 6-year-old Rwandan boy who underwent surgery in Nantes last month, spent his stay in a wonderful host family, which is not his first commitment to the Association.
