HospiUpdate

Narayana Hrudayalaya Saves 25-day- old Baby

A 25-day-old baby boy, diagnosed with a rare Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) at a pre-natal stage, was successfully operated in Bangaluru's Narayana Hrudayalaya. A team of four doctors headed by Dr Collin John, Senior Pediatric Surgeon, NH, performed a complex Norwood procedure on the baby for seven hours to give the baby a new lease of life.

HLHS is a rare abnormality with a low incidence of 0.016 to 0.036 per cent live births. The baby was born without the left ventricle in the heart (pumping chamber of the heart), blocking the supply of blood to the body. Further delay in treatment would have proved fatal for the baby.

Said Dr Collin John, Senior Paediatric Surgeon, Narayana Hrudayalaya, , "Successfully implementing the Norwood Procedure is a rare feat due to its highly complex nature." The Norwood Procedure involves three stages of surgery for complete recovery. The baby has been operated for the first stage. The procedure has connected the right ventricle of the baby's heart to the aorta to restore the blood supply to the rest of his body.

The baby is due for the second stage of treatment, called the Bidirectional Glenn, in late September this year. Dr John further added, "The procedure will correct blood flow load in the ventricle to optimise blood supply to the body. It will also prepare the heart for the third stage of operation, if required, called the Fontan." The third, and the final stage, diverts the venous blood from the right atrium directly to the pulmonary arteries without passing through the morphologic right ventricle. This procedure is required only if the right ventricle is unable to perform the dual task of supplying blood to both the body and the lungs.

HLHS causes 23 per cent of cardiac deaths during the first week of life and 15 per cent of cardiac deaths within the first month of life. In HLHS the heart's left side - including the aorta, aortic valve, left ventricle and mitral valve - is underdeveloped. In most children, the cause isn't known. Some children can have other heart defects along with HLHS.

EH News Bureau