Chennai: In a rare instance, the world’s first ductal stenting was completed on a two-week-old child weighing 1.19 kg and deeply cyanosed, that is, blueness all over the body at Apollo Hospitals recently. Doctors deployed a stent in a duct near the arteries to open it for proper blood flow to help the baby survive.
The child Revathy, was brought to the hospital in a critical condition, blue all over the body and oxygen saturation levels at 45 per cent; this should normally be 96 - 100 percent. After birth, the tube supplying oxygen to the lungs in the baby had nearly closed, making the baby blue.
Explaining the procedure, Dr. Muthukumaran CS, consultant, interventional pediatric cardiologist at Apollo Children's Hospitals said, "As arteries in such babies are very small, we accessed the right femoral vein (thigh vein which takes blue blood to the heart) through which we passed a wire, and with x-ray guidance reached the closing PDA through the heart. The heart rate dropped to 70, but we promptly stented the PDA and opened the tube. The baby's saturation improved to 85 per cent and she was taken off the breathing machine. "The baby stayed in the ward for one more day, was discharged and is recovering well after surgery.
