Tejas Ahire weighed 15kg, at the age of 1 and was diagnosed with congenital heart defect. He was a blue baby complaining of breathlessness and no weight gain. Through a camp, Dr. Suresh Joshi and team came to know about Tejas’ condition. After evaluation, doctors revealed that Tejas presented with a heart condition called transposition of the great arteries, which occurs during foetal growth when the baby’s heart is developing. This birth defect is unknown, in most cases.
This condition is a rare heart defect present during birth (congenital), in which the two main arteries leaving the heart are reversed (transposed). Heart surgery is needed to correct the condition. Transposition of the great arteries changes the way blood circulates through one’s body, leaving a shortage of oxygen in blood flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. Without an adequate supply of oxygen-rich blood, the body can’t function properly and the child faces serious complications. Furthermore the defect is accompanied with a condition called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), which is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers. It was also observed that the blood flow to his lungs was decreased.
Under the experienced hands of the Paediatric Cardiac Surgery India team at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central, led by Dr. Suresh Joshi, Consultant Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, and Dr. Manish Chokhandre, Interventional Paediatric Cardiologist, the surgery was effectively carried out.
Dr. Suresh Joshi, Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central, said “When it comes to Tejas, in the first stage known as Glenn shunt surgery, we added a tube carrying blood from the lower body to the pulmonary artery, but the communication was closed using a membrane. The connection is made into the tube so that the deoxygenated blood gets directed to heart only, thereby avoiding sudden flooding of lungs and providing a platform to finish the second stage in Cath lab without the need for surgery.”
Six months later in the month of February 2019, the completion of the Fontan, the second stage procedure, was carried out in a Cath lab by Dr. Manish Chokhandre, interventional paediatric cardiologist, who perforated the membrane between the tube and pulmonary artery, and balloon dilated the communication and closed the other holes (which was directing blood to the heart). The device provided a pathway that the de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body easily gets directed to the lungs.
According to Dr. Manish Chokhandre, Pediatric Cardiologist, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central there are no such published cases in literature from India and very few centres from abroad are performing this kind of surgery. This procedure has many benefits. Firstly there is no need for opening the chest surgically. Thereby a patient can have an early recovery, reduced hospital stay, fewer complications, and no post-procedure pain. This definitely makes the procedure cost effective.
Wockhardt Paediatric and Congenital Heart Defect Centre is one of a kind in Mumbai. It boasts an experienced panel of paediatric surgeons, cardiologist, intensivists, and anaesthetists, per fusionists and trained nurses as well as technologists who as a team deliver the best care to children with congenital heart diseases.
Paediatric cardiac surgery in children are indicated to repair heart defects a child is born with CHD (congenital heart defects) and heart diseases a child gets after birth. Cardiac defects are grossly divided into acyanotic and cyanotic heart diseases, former being more common. Paediatric cardiac surgery is needed for the child’s wellbeing is carried out by highly specialised and reputed paediatric cardiac surgeons of Wockhardt Hospital.
The department has played a pioneering role in both on and off pump cardiac neonatal surgeries as well as complex congenital heart surgeries and repeat open heart surgeries.
Our state of the art Cardiac Catheterisation and Interventional Cardiology facilities assist our expert paediatric cardiologists in dealing with closure of ASD, VSD, PDA etc. and other congenital heart surgeries .A full-fledged PICU which is under the guidance of protocol and evidence based management and is under the constant care of Consultant Paediatric cardiac care team. The department is also supported in Imaging devices such as Foetal Echocardiography ,Advanced 3-d Echocardiography and 2-d portable echocardiography for precise diagnosis of congenital heart defects in new born and children .
For any further information and treatment on birth defects in the heart please, visit our paediatric cardiology department at Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central.
