SPS Apollo Hospital gives a new lease of life to a young kid

Ludhiana, April 10, 2015: The Department of Cardiac Surgery & Pediatric Cardiology at SPS Apollo Hospital has given a new lease of life to a young kid of 1 year and 9 months. Yash was born at term at a private hospital with a birth weight of 2.5 kgs.

Though all seemed well initially but within few months parents noticed that he is not gaining much weight. When Yash was 5-6 months of age, he had a seizure and was taken to a leading institute of Chandigarh, where seizure was treated and the cardiac murmur was incidentally diagnosed and thought to be the cause of poor weight gain. Since then  Yash has been on various medications but the weight remained between 4.5-5.5 kg for over a year with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. He visited many centers, but was refused surgery due to low weight. Parents’ concern was genuine that till the hole gets closed, how will he gain weight?

It was then they decided to take the child to SPS Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana. At the age of 1 year 9 month Yash presented to SPS Apollo Hospital with respiratory distress (difficulty in breathing) and a history of severe failure to thrive and recurrent respiratory infections. He was admitted to hospital. He weighed around 5.4 kg only, with features of severe malnourishment.

Cardiac evaluation was performed by Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla, Paediatric Cardiologist at SPS Apollo Hospital which revealed presence of a large ventricular septal defect (hole in the heart) causing increased blood flow to lungs resulting in recurrent infections. Volume overloaded left ventricle resulting in congestive heart failure. 

Dr. K.C Mukherjee, Chief Cardiac Surgeon examined the child. Open heart surgery in small and poorly nourished children was a real challenge as the operative procedure becomes difficult and the chances of complications were high. Weighing risk versus benefit initially team of Doctors at SPS Apollo Hospital decided to control the heart failure with drugs and take on corrective surgery afterwards.

Yash was taken for surgery after treating heart failure and respiratory infection. The kid came out well with a successful surgery but with a really challenging initial postoperative period dealing with heart block, impending heart failure, blood loss and infection and other related complications. The kid was managed by a great team effort by the Dr. K.C Mukherjee, Chief cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla, Senior Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist, Dr. Vikas Bansal Senior Consultant Pediatric Intensivist, Dr. Anupam Shrivastava Senior Consultant Cardiac Anesthetist and highly trained nursing staff and is ready to go home now.

Successful surgery of Yash is an instance from the wide array of pediatric and neonatal cardiac interventions and surgeries performed at SPS Apollo Hospitals under Pediatric Cardiac Program wherein patients from all economic strata are gaining benefit.