KOCHI: A Newborn from Nagercoil, who was diagnosed with congenital heart disease on Tuesday, got a lease of life after undergoing a seven-hour corrective surgery in Kochi on Wednesday. The baby was born at Jayaharan Memorial Hospital, Nagercoil, with bluish discolouration and was diagnosed with congenital heart disease that required immediate surgery. Thanks to the prompt and timely intervention of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the baby was brought to Kerala amid the lockdown in a critical care ambulance to Lisie Hospital here where it underwent the surgery.
“Just a few hours after she was born, the baby showed discolouration. She had to be intubated and put on ventilator. Dr Venketesh from Nagercoil contacted Dr Edwin Francis, chief paediatric cardiologist in Lisie Hospital Kochi. Fr Paul Karedean, director of Lisie Hospital, took up the matter with the CM, who gave permission to transport the baby,” said one of the officials of Lisie Hospital.
The baby was brought to Lisie Hospital around 10pm on Tuesday and was shifted to special ICU for detailed examination. The doctors said the aorta, which normally carries pure blood from the left chambers of the heart to the rest of the body, was connected to the right chamber causing impure blood to flow in the body. “At the same time, the pulmonary artery connected to the left chamber was taking back the pure blood to the lungs. The blood circulation was wrong.
The condition is known as transposition of great arteries,” said a doctor. During the surgery, the wrongly-connected vessels were transected and put back into their correct location. Chief paediatric cardiac surgeon Dr Sunil G S and his team performed the seven-hour surgery. Dr Edwin Francis, Dr Jesson Henry, Dr Philip Mathew, Dr Annu Jose, Dr Bijesh V and Dr Divya Jacob were part of the team supported by Dr Jose Chacko Periyapuram and Dr Rony Mathew. The doctors said the baby will take more time to recover completely and is under observation at the hospital.