Miracle Making Missions - Help Close the Gap For Russian Children With Rare Heart Defects

Heart defects are the number one killer among all birth defects worldwide.  Each day, 52 children in Russia are born with a heart defect. Without treatment 18 of them will die in their first month of life. In answer to these bleak statistics, the Russian Ministry of Health began establishing well-equipped, high-volume cardiac centers across Russia. In 2005, there were 2,268 open-heart surgeries performed on children under the age of one. A decade later, the number of surgeries had almost tripled to 6,651. While encouraging news, a gap still exists – the number of surgeries does not yet equal the number needed to make sure no child dies of a treatable heart defect. Today, babies with rare heart defects make up most of that gap. These infant patients pose a challenge even for the best cardiac programs in the United States. To close the gap in Russia, local doctors need to learn the breakthrough American medical and surgical techniques that can save these children's lives. RACF partners w