14-year-old Dombivli boy on life-long medication after massive heart attack

A 14-year-old school boy from Dombivli suffered a massive heart attack recently while playing cricket. Though he survived the attack, Swapnesh Patil (name changed), a class 9 student, has been advised month-long rest and put on life-long medications.

On March 2, around 10 am, Patil collapsed on his school playground during a practice cricket match. He was quickly rushed to the AIMS hospital in Dombivli.

"The boy's heartbeats were non-recordable and he was gasping for breath," said Dr Deepak Shinde, interventional cardiologist, at the hospital.

Though doctors stabilised him, Patil's ECG result perplexed them. It showed a massive 80% blockage in his main left artery.

"We told the family about his situation and recommended angioplasty, which they agreed to," he says.

Within half an hour, doctors performed angioplasty on him and he was later shifted to the intensive care unit. Patil stayed there for seven days and was discharged on March 9, after his heart functions became near normal.
The boy does not have high cholesterol levels or childhood hypertension diabetes or obesity.

"In fact, he is thin and quite active. I later found out that he is going to have his final exams soon and he was also playing cricket. So the emotional stress of exams and physical stress of cricket might have led to this attack. We are still trying to find out the exact cause," says Dr Shinde.

"Patil has been advised a month-long rest. After that, he will be able to resume normal life and can play cricket also," he said. That should come as some words of solace.