Doctors conduct open heart surgery on farmer's 10-day-old infant

The mother with her 10-day-old infant.

A team headed by Dr Biswa Panda, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children, successfully carried out a high-risk, open-heart surgery on a 10-day old infant with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC), a congenital cardiac problem that leads to breathing difficulty and low oxygen levels. The child needed nearly 25 days of ventilation, and critical care to get out of the life-threatening risk and after the open-heart surgery, he accepted feeds and is now growing well.

Parenthood is bliss

Komal Ughade, a housewife, and her husband Ramchandra Ughade, who is a farmer in Shahapur, Thane, delivered twin boys on December 1, 2019, through cesarean section. While one child weighed a kg, another weighed two kgs. However, one of their kids got critical and was shifted from Shahapur to Wadia Hospital in the NICU with breathing difficult and low oxygen levels, wherein he was ventilated and stabilised.

Dr Biswa Panda, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children, "On evaluating the baby via echocardiography, it was revealed that the baby had a complex congenital cardiac problem known as Obstructed TAPVC (total anomalous pulmonary venous connection). Ten in 1,000 babies have congenital heart defects, and one in 1, 00,000 have TAPVC. It can be described as a congenital heart disease affecting the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary veins were connected to the right chamber of the heart instead of the left side, and surgery was the only treatment for survival. Also, the baby was extremely weak and septic. The baby displayed symptoms like breathing problems and low oxygen levels, soon after birth. In view of obstruction to this anomalous venous connection, there was no opportunity to wait and treat the baby for sepsis."

(From left) The infant with the pediatric cardiac surgeon, his mother and father.

He added, "Emergency major open-heart surgery spanning five hours corrected the baby's anatomical problem and normalised the heart. The pulmonary veins are reconnected to the left atrium and the atrial septal defect is closed. In view of major debility and preoperative sepsis, the child required nearly 25 days of ventilation and critical care to get out of life-threatening problem. Now, after the open-heart surgery the child is accepting feeds and is growing well. The baby will be discharged soon, and his family has been advised precautions like avoiding taking him to crowded places to keep infection at bay.

Baby's father Ramchandra Ughade, 28, said, "I am a farmer from Shahapur, and my family belongs to a low socioeconomic status. I have two girls and my wife Komal gave birth to the twin boys and one of them required an immediate open-heart surgery, and we could not afford the cost of the surgery. But, Wadia Hospital came forward and offered free treatment to my baby. Today, my family is complete owing to the limitless efforts taken by the hospital. The hospital's expertise, round the clock services and cutting edge technology helped save my baby's life."

"This one-day-old baby was brought in the emergency at the hospital wherein the baby was given timely treatment. The hospital is well-equipped and caters to the need of each and every patient. The hospital works relentlessly to help patients improve their quality of life with its multidisciplinary approach. The hospital aims to come up with various initiatives, drives, and camps for the betterment of the society," Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, Chief Executive Officer of the Wadia Hospitals.

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