24-year-old who stopped breathing during operation survives

  • | Friday | 22nd March, 2019

KOCHI: A 24-year-old woman who was thought to be dead for almost 20 minutes after suffering a cardiac arrest on the operation table miraculously survived in a city hospital. "The shunt moves fluid from the brain to the peritoneal cavity , the space outside the intestines within the abdomen. But these tubes are notorious to get dysfunctional or infected," said Dr Bahuleyan. They first attempted to remove the shunt tube through a key hole surgery with flexible endoscope but during surgery it was found that the tube had penetrated to the brain with a tuft of blood vessels around it. "My daughter is feeling better," said the patient's father.The first shunt was placed in her body after she was diagnosed with congenital hydrocephalus when she was eight months.

KOCHI: A 24-year-old woman who was thought to be dead for almost 20 minutes after suffering a cardiac arrest on the operation table miraculously survived in a city hospital. She was admitted to the hospital with meningitis due to a rare organism - stenotrophomonas maltophilia - reported just in about 20 persons globally.Since the only way to treat meningitis caused by this rare organism was to remove the shunt tube that was installed when she was eight months old, neurosurgeons at Lisie Hospital decided to do craniotomy (opening the skull). They first attempted to remove the shunt tube through a key hole surgery with flexible endoscope but during surgery it was found that the tube had penetrated to the brain with a tuft of blood vessels around it."As it was unsafe, we abandoned the procedure and decided to do craniotomy later if need be," said neurosurgeon Dr Biji Bahuleyan, who operated on her along with neurosurgeon Dr Santosh Thomas and anaesthetist Dr Vishnu.However, within a few days of being discharged she complained of headache and vomiting and then it was decided to go for craniotomy. After the doctors put a new shunt before doing the craniotomy, the patient suffered a cardiac arrest and could be revived after multiple cycles of cardiac massage and DC shock.She now lives with two shunt tubes in her brain, but her meningitis is cured. "The shunt moves fluid from the brain to the peritoneal cavity , the space outside the intestines within the abdomen. But these tubes are notorious to get dysfunctional or infected," said Dr Bahuleyan. "Even though it would have been better to have the old shunt tube removed from the brain, we decided to attempt it only in the event of development of meningitis in future, considering the stormy post-operative period that she had," the doctor added."My daughter is feeling better," said the patient's father.The first shunt was placed in her body after she was diagnosed with congenital hydrocephalus when she was eight months.

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