Rare life saving heart surgery performed at NEIGRIHMS

SHILLONG, NOV 16: The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) has performed a successful treatment of a rare congenital heart condition on a baby girl.

The 40-day old baby weighing 3.6 kg was suffering from an Aorto Pulmonary Window which is a rare and lethal cardiac problem with an abnormal communication between the major artery taking blood from the heart to the body (aorta) and the one taking blood from the heart to the lungs (pulmonary artery).

This problem results in excessive blood flow to the lungs leading to high blood pressure in the lungs (a condition called pulmonary hypertension) and congestive heart failure. The problem occurs in only 0.1% to 0.6% of all congenital heart defects.

A large number of patients with a large Aorto Pulmonary Window usually die within 1 year of age if left untreated.

A cohesive teamwork of the Departments of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), Anaesthesiology and Paediatrics lead to successful surgery.

Team of doctors and staff including Dr. Reuben Lamiaki Kynta, MCh, (Associate Professor CTVS), Dr. Shivadutta Sharma (JR-CTVS), Dr. Priyanka Dev, Assoc. Professor Anaesthesia, Dr Neha Rawat (Asst. Professor of Anaesthesia), Dr. Wewuteu Thopi (Senior Resident Anaesthesia), Mr. Mrinal Mandal (Perfusionists) and Loosar Dkhar performed the successful operation on 22 October 2022.

The stormy but successful postoperative intensive care of this baby was provided by the
Department of Paediatrics headed by Prof. Himesh Barman, and Senior Residents Dr. Ivan Derick Thongni, Dr. John Biswas, Dr. Deisar Muksor and Dr. Kapil Sharma.
The baby was discharged on 12 November 2022 in a stable condition.

By Our Reporter