Doctors from OHSU Arriving Friday to Check Hearts

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A team from the Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) is arriving this Friday to check on children whom doctors at the LBJ Hospital have identified to have heart conditions.

Dr. Tunoa of the LBJ Pediatric Clinic says the team from OHSU will be seeing children that they’ve listed as showing signs of rheumatic heart disease or other congenital conditions.

Since November 2011, the OHSU cardiology team has come 1-2 times per year.

All team members from Oregon are volunteers.

Some work at OHSU and others do not.

All of the volunteers use their vacation or continuing medical education (CME) time.

The 8-member team brings with them 1-2 echocardiography machines that are donated by the industry.

They have also provided educational talks in medical staff continuing medical education (CME) activities and to the pediatric or nursery intensive care unit (NICU) staff when requested.

OHSU’s contact with LBJ Hospital began in 2010 when a local pediatric patient with heart failure was referred and accepted by a pediatric cardiologist in the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Hospital.

The cardiologist from OHSU was further apprised about the number of children in American Samoa with Rheumatic Fever, many of whom went on to be develop Rheumatic Heart disease.

They are started on bicillin injections on the basis of medical history and physical examination.

Dr. Tunoa says the LBJ Hospital has an echocardiogram (ultrasound) machine but no one in pediatrics has training to use it, therefore it was not used to diagnose or manage either Rheumatic Heart Disease or Congenital Heart Disease (which occurs in 1% of births).

The Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) pediatric cardiology program realized that the complex patient population in American Samoa could benefit from a relationship that would provide ongoing support and consultation for cardiac issues arising in the children of American Samoa.

And OHSU has been sending teams here once or twice a year.

Dr. Tunoa said the team arriving Friday will begin their clinics at the LBJ Hospital on Monday and the clinics will continue till Friday, next week when they depart.

Dr. Tunoa says their volunteer work is a big help to the young patients and their families some of whom are not able to afford taking their children off island.

They prioritize patients with the most urgent needs to see the specialists and schedule appointments as time allows, as the team is only here for one week.

He adds that LBJ depends on help from the business community and the public to fund the OSHU group’s trip and service to the territory.

In the past StarKist Samoa and Paramount Builders were major sponsors of the OHSU mission.

Call LBJ Pediatric Clinic, 633-1222 extension 520 for appointments.

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