CHENNAI: Doctors at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore, saved the life of a four-month-old baby boy who was diagnosed with a rare heart condition among preterm babies, by performing open-heart surgery.
The weight of the baby was 1.7 kg when the surgery was performed.
He was born on August 24 at Government Mumdiambakkam Hospital.
“I was into the 8th month of pregnancy when I gave birth to my son by Caesarean section. He was 1.1 kg when he was born. He had breathlessness, so doctors there immediately shifted him to the Institute of Child Health here. We were told about his heart problem,” said S Jayanthi, the child’s mother.
“After a scan and tests, we diagnosed him with fungal endocarditis, a rare condition in preterm. Fungal endocarditis is a fungal infection in one of the chambers of the heart wall. The fungal infection developed a mass-like growth and was blocking the tricuspid valve, the valve that prevents backflow of blood,” explained Dr G K Jaikaran, head of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Institute of Child Health.
“Fungal endocarditis is a rare condition in preterm. The incidence is one among 10,000 preterm babies. It is a kind of fungal infection and occurs among preterm as their immunity is weak. He is the lowest weight preterm baby operated for open-heart surgery for fungal cardiothoracic in the Institute,” said Dr A T Arasar Seeralar, Director and Superintendent, ICH.
“The baby has to come for review for one year, and can lead a normal life as he grows up. If not operated, it could be fatal. There was no response when we treated the fungal endocarditis with antibiotics and anti-fungal drugs for over one month. We performed the surgery on November 26 and the baby was discharged on Friday,” added Dr Jaikaran.