‘Ante-natal diagnosis crucial for heart defects’

  • | Wednesday | 18th July, 2018

In layman’s terms, the baby was born with its heart vessels so mixed up that the heart never pumped blood to the lungs. Dr. Ramesh Babu said babies with complex congenital heart diseases could live normal and full life if the surgery was performed at the “correct time”. Earlier the diagnosis, the better are the chances of the baby leading a normal life, Ramesh group of Hospitals Managing Director P Ramesh Babu said. One of the biggest risks to a baby with a congenitally defective heart is transportation. In fact the diagnosis was done ante-natal two months before delivery.

more-in One of the biggest risks to a baby with a congenitally defective heart is transportation. Very sick newborn babies need ventilation and face the huge risk of infection. The cost too is often prohibitive forcing under privileged parents to give up. “The mother’s womb is the best ambulance for a prospective child with a defective heart,” said N. Srinath Reddy, interventional paediatric cardiologist of the Ramesh Group of Hospitals. It was therefore important to diagnose any ailments in the foetus itself, he said referring to a newborn boy diagnosed with ‘Transposition of the Great Arteries’ in the foetal stage. In fact the diagnosis was done ante-natal two months before delivery. This could be done with a foetal cardiography, he said. The advanced notice gave the surgeons ample time to plan the very complicated procedure. Though the baby was strong enough to withstand a normal delivery, a caesarian section was performed on account of “maternal indications,” he said. In layman’s terms, the baby was born with its heart vessels so mixed up that the heart never pumped blood to the lungs. The impure blood kept going back to the body and the clean blood to the lungs, while the opposite should happen. Not treated, such babies would not live for more than two months, the doctors said. The number of babies being diagnosed with various types of congenital heart diseases is on the increase thanks to the advances in the diagnostic technology. Earlier the diagnosis, the better are the chances of the baby leading a normal life, Ramesh group of Hospitals Managing Director P Ramesh Babu said. A “switch” surgery, in which the position of the great arteries was reversed, was performed on the fifth day and the infant was discharged after six days of hospitalisation, he said. Dr. Ramesh Babu said babies with complex congenital heart diseases could live normal and full life if the surgery was performed at the “correct time”. The hospital heart team including cardiothoracic surgeon R. Benedict Raj and chief anaesthetist P. Srinivasa Rao planned the operation while the baby was still in the womb, he said.

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