NEW DELHI: Never did Lucknow-resident Zubair Ahmed imagine that his second child will have to undergo a delicate surgery at a tender age of three months. Zubiya did not have clarity in her voice since birth. “Even her cry was not clear. We couldn’t understand when she was crying. She was just one and half months when we started her treatment in Lucknow. But doctors said she was suffering from a rare heart disease and may not survive for long if not treated early,” Zubair told The Sunday Standard.
Zubair along with his wife and daughter reached Apollo Indraprastha in Delhi where she underwent the surgery. “In this holy month, our child got another life. Best Eid gift for us…she is much better now,” he said over the phone. Delivered prematurely, Zubiya was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart disease — a mix type of TAPVC (Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection). Her skin would turn bluish and she breathed rapidly. It led to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) due to high lung pressure.
“TAPVC is congenital, a birth defect that happens among a child during their evolution in mother’s womb. It is pretty common disease in children. But this case was extremely rare. The baby had only 50 per cent chances of survival. In medical terms, this means hardly any chance of surviving,” said Dr Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Cardio Thoracic Surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, who did the surgery.
TAPVD usually develops in a child during the second to fifth month of pregnancy when the heart forms. Genetics is a factor. If one of the parents has problem or the mother has infection or illness during the pregnancy, the child’s heart doesn’t develop as it should be in a normal case.Zubiya was diagnosed with supra cardiac TAPVD in which pulmonary veins drain into a common chamber behind the heart. Due to this, the blood coming from the lungs was not reaching the heart.
“The surgery was very critical and risky one. The baby was only 2.7 kilo and age was also a factor. The only possible way is surgery and if not done, then there is no survival chance, especially at such an age,” said Dr Jothi. “It was a very complex surgery which took 6.5 to 7 hours. The infant was on ventilator for three – four days and then discharged from the hospital after a week of the surgery.”