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Infant saved from impending heart attack

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For close to a month, a Gujarat-based couple mistook their newborn girl’s rare and a potentially fatal heart defect as common cough and cold caused by pneumonia. Sadhana and Dhiren Patel could not fathom why their baby refused breast feeding or got tired fast. But when the baby was admitted to a hospital and an echocardiogram done, doctors informed them that she had a congenital heart defect, Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA) syndrome, which affects one in every 3,00,000 children.

In ALCAPA the left coronary artery (LCA) of the heart originates from the pulmonary artery instead of the aorta. In normal condition, the left coronary artery feeds fresh blood to the heart and arises out of the aorta which is the largest artery in the human body. “Instead of originating from the aorta, the LCA, which is supposed to supply fresh blood to the heart, was originating from the pulmonary artery. It was a faulty connection as the pulmonary artery carries de-oxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs,” said Sadhana. “After the doctors in Baroda discovered  the anomaly, they asked us to get her operated in Mumbai.”

The baby had an emergency open heart surgery at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) on March 27. Doctors said that had the baby not been brought in time for the surgery, the starved muscles and tissues which were causing the heart to die may have lead to a heart attack.

“The heart function was very poor as the muscles and tissues around the heart were starved for blood. Due to the faulty connection, fresh blood was being drained away through the low pressure zone of pulmonary artery from the heart instead of being supplied to it. The heart had enlarged to three times it’s normal size,” said Dr Suresh Rao, paediatric cardiac surgeon, KDAH.

The life-saving surgery lasted for up to six hours. The baby’s body was cooled down to 22 degrees. The heart was stopped from beating and bodily functions were put on artificial support. “We sawed open the breast bone to access the heart and temporarily paralyse it. A small orifice was later made in the aorta and the coronary artery was detached from the pulmonary artery and fixed to it’s right place of origin,” said Dr Rao.

Much to the delight of the couple, after the defect was surgically fixed, the baby’s heart started to beat normally. “ My baby is saved. Earlier, my heart used to skip a beat every time the doctors missed detecting my ill baby’s heartbeats. It’s been three months since the surgery and she’s now hale and hearty,” Sadhana told dna.

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