February 2012

Man with patient jpeg
MonashHeart cardiac surgeon Andrew Cochrane with Marciano Belo, 25, from East Timor.

Early Christmas cheer

Christmas came early for a young East Timor man, critically ill before being flown to MonashHeart for an urgent double valve replacement.

MonashHeart cardiac surgeon Andrew Cochrane performed the pro bono surgery on Marciano Belo, 25.

‘Marciano underwent replacement of the two heart valves which had been severely affected by rheumatic fever.

‘The left inlet valve was narrowed as well as leaky and the left outlet valve was severely leaky.

‘As a result, his heart was very enlarged.

‘He received two artificial or ‘mechanical’ valves, which consist of two tilting discs,’ Mr Cochrane said.

Warrnambool cardiologist Noel Bayley, a medical adviser to East Timor Hearts Funds, which paid for Marciano’s trip, identified him as a candidate for surgery during a field trip to east Timor in July.

‘Marciano was on borrowed time when I saw him in Dili in July.

‘Without medical assistance, which is unavailable in East Timor, he had very limited life-expectancy,’ Dr Bayley said.

‘He had the heart of an 80‑year-old.

‘This was due to childhood rheumatic fever, a condition common in developing countries but largely eradicated decades ago in the affluent west.’