AIIMS conducts surgery on infant with rare heart disorder

Doctors at AIIMS today successfully operated on the eight-day-old infant who was born with a rare medical condition with his heart protruding out of his chest.

After a three-and-a-half-hour-long surgery, doctors said that the procedure was successful and the condition of the baby was stable.

"The baby has been shifted to the ICU after the surgery. His condition is stable but this is a critical phase. We have to see how he responds to the surgery. Every minute is important," Dr AK Bisnoi, cardiothoracic surgeon, AIIMS, who led the team, said.

He said, "Only when he goes back home hale and hearty, can we conclude that this is a successful path-breaking surgery in the history of AIIMS."

Born on August 26, the infant was brought to the hospital by his parents, hailing from Bihar, with his heart protruding out of the chest. The condition is known as Ectopia cordis in medical terms.

Wrapping the baby in a dirty cloth by his parents led to septicaemia which further complicated the condition.

Ectopia cordis, is a birth defect wherein the heart is abnormally located. It occurs in five to nine cases per million births and the mortality rate is very high.