KOCHI: A life-saving interventional procedure was successfully performed on a baby girl from Thrissur, who was born with a birth weight of just 935 grams and diagnosed antenatally with a congenital heart defect, at Lisie Hospital in Kochi.
The infant was suffering from Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) – a condition in which a blood vessel in the heart fails to close after birth – along with pulmonary atresia, where the artery responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs was absent. Referred to Lisie Hospital at 25 days old, the baby’s life was sustained through PDA (patent ductus arteriosus), a thin, hollow tube.
She had low oxygen saturation, and prostaglandin was administered to maintain PDA circulation. Prostaglandin injections are commonly used in infants with congenital heart defects to keep the ductus arteriosus open until surgery can be performed. However, to ensure the PDA remained open, a stent had to be placed inside it.
“This was a very risky treatment because of the low birth weight. Due to declining saturation while receiving prostaglandin infusion, the infant was taken up for PDA stenting. Across the PDA, a coronary stent was inserted. Prostaglandin was halted, and the baby’s saturation improved. Feeding started when the baby was shifted from the ventilator on the next day,” said Dr Anil S R, Head of the Department of Paediatric Cardiology at Lisie Hospital, Ernakulam, who performed the procedure.
He added that the reported PDA stenting cases in the literature were usually carried out in babies weighing more than 1.5 kg.
The medical team included Dr Jenu Rose Jose E, consultant paediatric cardiologist, the paediatric cardiac anaesthesia team – Dr Jagan Jose and Dr Sreesankar V – as well as Dr Barsha, Dr Sreejith, and paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Sajan Koshy.
The baby is currently under the care of the Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, according to a statement released by the hospital.