Delhi: Doctors perform open-heart surgery on three-week-old baby girl
What's the story
Doctors at Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals performed an open-heart surgery on an infant just three weeks old, offering her a fresh lease of life.
The baby was suffering from a rare heart condition. She was diagnosed with Infra Diaphragmatic Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection and oxygenated blood from her lungs wasn't reaching the heart.
The case presented huge challenges at every step, doctors said.
Emergency Case
Her condition was a true pediatric cardiac emergency, says doctor
"The blood had to reach the heart in some way to sustain (the baby's) life. In her condition, the blood was draining through a channel which was joining a vein in the liver," Dr. Manisha Chakrabarti, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Cardiology at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals
"Due to this, the lung pressures were very high," she said, adding her condition was a true pediatric cardiac emergency.
Details
The baby weighed just 2.2kg and was very weak
The baby was admitted to the hospital on April 10 as an emergency case. At the time of admission, the baby's lung pressures were very high but the biggest obstacle was her overall health. She weighed just 2.2 kg and was very weak.
"This was probably the smallest baby (in terms of weight) to undergo an open-heart surgery at our institution," Dr. Chakrabarti claimed.
The Surgery
Pediatric cardio thoracic surgeon details the surgical procedure
Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon at the hospital, said they stopped the baby's blood circulation completely for 30 minutes.
"To ensure that her organs don't suffer shock, especially the brain, we lowered her body temperature by placing ice all around her little body. The channel was closed and the chamber was connected to the left side of the heart," Jothi said.
Information
The baby was on heart-lung machine
The baby girl was put on a heart-lung machine for the procedure. After successfully connecting the systemic circuit of the blood vessels in the correct order, circulation was slowly re-established and she was taken off the heart-lung machine, he said.
Recovery
Delighted to see the baby doing well: Jothi
After the operation, the baby stayed in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for one. The post-operative ECHO revealed good recovery and she was discharged on April 21.
"She has been coming to us for follow up and I am delighted to see her doing well. She has been gaining weight and is expected to make a full recovery without any hiccups," Jothi said.
Information
Grateful to doctors, we have our daughter back, says father
The baby girl's father said, "It was an immensely distressing experience, having to witness our newborn child go through so much trauma. The happiness of her birth was overshadowed by her ailment. We are grateful to the doctors... we have our daughter back with us."