Tajik children with heart defects treated in Qingdao

Nine children from Tajikistan with complex congenital heart defects underwent successful surgeries at a hospital in Qingdao, China's Shandong province, over the past week, highlighting deepening healthcare cooperation and growing ties between the two nations.

The children, aged 2 to their early teens, arrived in Qingdao on March 13 for preoperative evaluations at the Women and Children's Hospital of Qingdao University, with treatments and surgeries beginning on March 16.

"All the procedures went smoothly, and all the children are expected to be moved to regular wards to continue their recovery," said Chen Rui, director of the hospital's heart center.

Chen said the young patients suffer from serious heart conditions, including tetralogy of Fallot — a rare combination of four structural heart defects — and severe aortic stenosis, a narrowing or blockage of the heart's main outflow valve.