SIVAKASI WEATHER
Infant with a rare Cardiac Ailment saved amidst COVID restrictions

25-06-2020
Infant with a rare Cardiac Ailment saved amidst COVID restrictions

A 9-month old boy, who had breathing difficulty due to a rare form of congenital cardiac defect namely Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia was saved by the doctors in a city-based hospital.The child weighing 6 kg was referred to Sri Ramakrishna Hospital here from Sivakasi for management of its heart disease and on arrival, the baby developed severe breathing difficulty and subsequently stopped breathing. The baby was immediately admitted and resuscitative measures were commenced and Dr.Devaprasath, Consultant, Pediatric Cardiologist and his team set in motion the resuscitative measures.The boy was put on artificial respiratory support and.further evaluation revealed that the child was suffering from a rare form of congenital cardiac defect namely Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia.This is a rare condition (7 none lakh live births) where there is a large hole in the heart and a complete obstruction to forward flow of blood from the heart to the lungs and the child was surviving because of an alternate route of blood supply to the lungs, it said.But that was not adequate and hence the child was sick with very low oxygen levels in the body and the child was in a state of impending Cardiac arrest and at this stage only an emergency surgery would be life saving for the child.Hence a team of doctors consisting of Cardiac Surgeons headed by Dr.Thiagarajamurthy and anesthetists performed a complex surgery to totally correct the cardiac defect, amid Covid-19 restrictions .Usually during such an emergency situation, a temporary procedure namely Blalock Taussig shunt is performed, deferring the total correction for a later date.But considering the benefits and also as the team was well experienced in handling complex situations, the team went ahead and performed a total correction of the cardiac defect in spite of the sick status of the child.Post operative the child developed lung complications and also a blood stream infection and team effectively managed them and in a week after surgery, the child completely recovered and now is ready to travel back home to Sivakasi. An effective team work and coordination between various doctors, staff nurses and much support and encouragement from the Hospital Management, ensured a successful outcome during these difficult circumstances.


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