KOCHI: The health condition of the 17-day-old infant, who was brought from Mangaluru for treatment at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, is stable after nearly seven hours of surgery on Thursday. According to doctors, the infant has undergone VSD closure, aortic valve plasty, and extended arch repair surgery.
“The surgery, which commenced around 9 am, was completed close to 4 pm. Repairs of the heart defects were done under cardiopulmonary bypass. The hole internal to the heart was closed, narrowing of the heart valve was corrected and extensive repair of the aorta was undertaken. The baby is currently stable,” said the hospital authorities in a press release.
While this is good reason to cheer, the next 48 hours will be crucial, as this is the period of time the baby requires to recover from the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass. During this time period, the child will be kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for monitoring his condition, said a doctor.
As per the doctors, the infant was suffering from congenital heart disease, including ventricular septal defect, which is a hole between the pumping chambers of the heart ventricles, coarctation of the aorta, which is the narrowing of the main vessel supplying the body, bicuspid aortic valve and aortic valve stenosis. The infant was brought to AIMS Hospital from Father Muller Hospital in Mangaluru on Tuesday after the intervention of Health Minister K K Shailaja, with the state government offering treatment free of cost under the Hridhyam scheme.