Surgeons at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute to the rescue.....

August 18, 2008

Baby with abnormal heart breathes easy

BANGALORE: Eight-month-old Sinan from Kerala was a bonny baby with a charming smile. But behind that brilliant smile was a baby with a serious problem. He was born with his aorta having an extra arch. Sinan's breathing was laborious with a choked wind pipe and could not eat solid food. It was a dangerous condition that required complicated and expensive surgery, beyond the means of his parents. Surgeons at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences came to the rescue and performed a complex operation on the baby to rectify the complicated congenital defect. Now, the charming smile on Sinan's face comes easier . "This was a rare condition known as double aortic arch. It accounts for only around one percent of all congenital heart diseases'' , said Dr Choudary Voleti , the cardiac surgeon who led the surgical team. The aorta is the biggest artery in the body and supplies blood pumped by the heart to all the vital organs. When it forms a ring around the wind and food pipes, it turns into a vice-like grip due to pressure of the blood inside the large artery.

"This made the surgery complicated and difficult. We had to identify a section of the arch in front of the wind and food pipes that we could sever and seal off. At the same time, we had to ensure it would not result in loss of blood circulation to any part of the body'' , explains Dr Voleti. After an angiography by Dr P K Dash, chief cardiologist at the hospital, and CT scan, the surgeons reached the aorta from the left side of the chest. The smaller of the two aortic arches was severed to let the food and wind pipes breathe normally. "This procedure involved a team of paediatric cardiac surgeons to work in conjunction. These are rare surgeries and many surgeons never come across such cases through their careers'' , adds Dr Voleti. The charitable super speciality hospital saved another life. Many such babies, however, lose their lives for want of expensive healthcare. "This surgery would have cost over a lakh, not counting the diagnostic procedures. How can people from the economically weaker sections afford it?'' asks a concerned Dr Voleti.

link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Baby_with_abnormal_heart_breathes_easy_/articleshow/3367514.cms

Regards

Deepak

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