Kolkata : In a remarkable medical feat, doctors at AMRI Hospital Dhakuria successfully conducted an open-heart surgery on a 28-month-old child suffering from a rare combination of congenital heart condition, commonly known as Blue Baby Syndrome, along with cleft lip-cleft palate. The child, who hails from Lalgola in Murshidabad, was discharged on Thursday.
The child’s parents brought him for OPD consultation with Dr. Kaushik Mukherjee, Senior Consultant & Head, Cardiothoracic Surgery, AMRI Hospital Dhakuria, with complaints of turning blue during minimal exertion. Even slight crying caused the child’s arms, nails, lips, and tongue to turn blue and more strenuous activity or prolonged crying led to the child losing consciousness. Upon thorough investigation the child was diagnosed with congenital cardiac issues, besides having a cleft lip and cleft palate, a combination rarely seen.
An echo cardiogram of the child unveiled a heart obstruction on the right side and a hole between the heart chambers, causing deoxygenated blood to mix with oxygenated blood, resulting in the child turning blue due to elevated carbon dioxide levels. Other doctors at Murshidabad, Kolkata and Bangalore he was taken to refused surgery because his weight was just 9 Kgs, which should be at least 12 Kgs to make him eligible for a cardiac surgery.
The child faced challenges in gaining weight that hindered necessary cardiac surgery, and doctors cautioned against operating on the cleft lip-cleft palate due to the potential risks associated with the heart condition.
Dr Mukherjee and his team conducted an open-heart surgery to address the life-threatening conditions by closing the hole between the right and the left chambers of the heart. The procedure involved utilizing a heart-lung machine to temporarily bypass heart functions.
The child spent couple of days in the ICU on ventilation, as per standard protocols. As his health improved and appetite returned, doctors discharged him on Thursday. Dr Mukherjee said that further cardiac surgeries will not be necessary and the child will be able to undergo corrective surgery for cleft lip-cleft palate after six weeks.
Dr Mukherjee expressed satisfaction with the successful intervention, highlighting that the child’s progress can be determined by the current saturation of 99 percent in room air, since when he was admitted with saturation below 70 percent. The child’s father, Md Jabir Sheikh, a carpenter by trade, said, “My wife and I are grateful that our son has been totally cured. We had lost hope after visiting several doctors but we are very happy that he is doing well and has gained appetite. I’m sure he will improve even more once we go back home.” The whole treatment was done under Swasthya Sathi, he added.
