Tricky surgery on baby successful

Hyderabad: Foetal scan of Anuradha, a 22-year-old pregnant woman from Medak district, showed pure blood vessels from the lungs connected to the liver, instead of the heart.

This is one of the congenital heart abnormalities (total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage) that is considered fatal.

The child could survive in the womb as the breathing is done by the mother. But once born, chances of survival would be slim as there would be no pure blood reaching the heart. The baby might have died as early as two hours after birth as the body starts swelling up due to lack of oxygen.

Present day technology can detect the condition in a foetal scan but only after four months of pregnancy.

Hence, termination is also not possible. Anuradha, who had come to Care Hospital in the seventh month of her pregnancy, was being continuously monitored.

To avoid any untoward situation, the team of gynaecology, paediatric and  cardiothoracic surgeons planned the Caesarean delivery and the subsequent operation of the hours-old baby. Immediately after birth on January 4, the child was taken from the delivery room to the operation theatre.

Dr K. Tapan Das, paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, who reconnected the pure blood vessels of the child to the heart, said, “We could not wait for normal delivery as in the process of birth without proper oxygen, the child would not have made it. Hence, we had to plan every detail of the operation.”

“As the new born’s heart is less than an inch wide and the blood vessels can’t be picked up with forceps due to danger of puncturing, we brought down the body temperature to 18 degrees. The vessels to the liver were stopped. For reconnecting it to the left atrium, the tiny heart was actually lifted and replaced. We are glad we succeeded.”