Identical twins Albert and Benson Tass were among the first patients to undergo open-heart surgery at the Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Cardiac surgeons at the Queensland Children’s Hospital have performed more than 4,360 heart surgeries on almost 3,000 children and young people since the hospital opened.
Around one in 100 Australian kids are born with Childhood onset Heart Disease (CoHD) and there are more than 30,000 children living with the condition.
Mackay Identical twins Albert and Benson Tass were among the first patients to undergo open-heart surgery when the Queensland Children’s Hospital opened in November 2014.
Parents Maria Cunliffe and Farron Tass found out at a 22-week-scan that the twins both had cardiac conditions before being born early at 37 weeks, just two days before the hospital opened.
“Albert was born with Pulmonary Atresia, where the pulmonary valve fails to develop, while Benson’s condition, Tetralogy of Fallot, affects normal blood flood through the heart,” Maria said.
Ms Cunliffe said the twins and their older brother Eliegh, spent much of their early years travelling to and from North Queensland for treatment, including spending their first two Christmas’s in hospital.
“Between the two boys, they’ve had five surgeries to correct their conditions.”
Queensland Children’s Hospital Director of Cardiac Surgery and one of only 11 paediatric cardiac surgeons in Australia, Dr Prem Venugopal, said the highly skilled multidisciplinary team had performed surgery on almost 3,000 children and young people.
“These complex procedures are often performed in the first few days of a child’s life to correct life-threatening congenital heart defects and conditions,” he said.
“These surgeries are technically challenging, in some instances babies weigh less than 2kg with a heart the size of a small strawberry.”
As one of only three hospitals in Australia to be accredited to train in paediatric cardiac surgery, Dr Venugopal said that the hospital was leading the way in trialling pioneering and innovative surgical techniques to advance treatment for children with CoHD.
In 2024, the Queensland Children’s Hospital is celebrating 10 years of providing the best care for sick and injured Queensland kids.
Read the full media release: 10 years of healing little hearts at the Queensland Children’s Hospital