Specialized care and teamwork at the MUHC: a life saved, a healthy baby

The last MUHC Town Hall of the year unfolded on a warm and optimistic note. We welcomed patient Zupa Nakayi-Semitego, her husband Hervé Burasanzwe and their baby daughter.

During a conversation with Dr. Lucie Opatrny, president and executive director of the MUHC, Zupa and Dr. Marie-Christine Brunet, neurosurgeon at The Neuro, shared Zupa’s remarkable care journey within our hospitals.

In January 2025, Zupa was training at a gym when she began experiencing worrying symptoms, including dizziness, impaired vision and a severe headache. A mother of two and pregnant with her third child, she initially returned home. As her condition worsened, however, she went to the RVH Emergency Department, where she was quickly diagnosed as having had a stroke. Because of her pregnancy, she also benefited from the expertise of teams at the Montreal Children’s Hospital before being transferred to The Neuro for highly specialized care.

At The Neuro, a multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Brunet came together to manage her rare and complex case, made even more challenging by her pregnancy. It’s at The Neuro that it was discovered that the stroke resulted from a brain malformation located at the back of her head. With the strong support of the obstetrics and neonatology teams, including Dr. Richard Brown, director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, and Dr. Elizabeth Hailu, neonatologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the team carefully reviewed surgical options and addressed significant logistical challenges across multiple sites. A few weeks later, Zupa underwent a successful surgery, was able to carry her baby full term, and gave birth at the beginning of May.
 

Zupa says The Neuro saved her life, an experience that profoundly affected her family. She expressed deep gratitude to all the care teams involved. “The collaboration of different disciplines to work on a case like this was extraordinary,” she said.

We warmly thank Zupa and her family for sharing their story with our staff!

A second presentation was delivered by Dr. Alan Spatz, medical director of Optilab–MUHC, on advances in molecular genetics and the role of our laboratories in the development and validation of biomarkers.

Following the meeting, staff were invited to enjoy coffee and cookies generously offered by the Friends of the MUHC.