Pre-term baby from Mauritius was treated for a life-threatening heart defect.

About the Patient and condition

The parents of a four-month-old baby flew 5000 km from Mauritius to Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai for treatment of a life-threatening heart defect that had left the baby unable to feed and was leading to congestive cardiac failure.

Case Scenario

The baby was a suspected case of Congenital rubella syndrome that had caused Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), a birth defect of the heart. As a result of the defect, the infant’s heart had a volume overload with congestive cardiac failure.

As per Dr Bhushan Chavan, Consultant – Paediatrics and Paediatric Cardiology at Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, “The case was complicated. The infant had been in the NICU for two months in Mauritius. He had failed to thrive and his weight at four months of age was the same as at birth, just 2.5 kilos. We were fortunate that he managed the long journey from Mauritius without any major issues. After admission, the baby was thoroughly evaluated and it was found that, the PDA was of significant size. Due to the low weight of the baby and presence of thrombosed veins, the procedure was very challenging. While the approach is usually through the femoral vein in the leg; in this case, it was not possible. Due to the baby’s fragile condition, we did not have time and decided to use a new route. We went through the internal jugular vein on the right side of the neck. The margin of error is very low in handling tiny babies and the initial use of a wire through a sheath resulted in slipping and slowing of the heart rate. It was then immediately decided to innovate and use a flexible catheter to guide the wire with the occluding device. We used the smallest device available, a 3×5 mm Lifetech occlude and negotiated it through the guiding catheter and positioned it across the PDA to successfully close and block any flow across it.”

Worldwide Scenario

The standard of care for large PDAs with significant blood flow is closure using either surgical or transcatheter methods. Due to the low weight of the baby, it was decided to go in for a minimally invasive interventional closure of the PDA in Apollo’s advanced Cath-Lab.

Expertise at Apollo Hospitals

The two-hour-long procedure was followed by an uneventful recovery with the baby being able to take feeds comfortably. The team of expert included Dr Bhushan Chavan, Paediatric Cardiologist, Dr Narjohan Meshram, Paediatric Intensive Care Specialist and Dr Leena Pawar, Anaesthetist. Timely diagnosis and intervention by our specialist has helped in overcoming multiple challenges for closing the heart defect in the baby. Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai has been undertaking multiple pediatric cardiac screening camps in remote parts of Maharashtra and has undertaken 305 cases as on date including few very complex and challenging cases.

Apollo Hospitals – Touching Lives

Mr Santosh Marathe, Regional CEO Western Region, Apollo Hospitals said, “We are elated that we kept the faith that the parents of the infant had shown in our capabilities, flying the infant miles across the ocean to bring him into our care. It is very rewarding to see our team of doctors who showing a positive attitude and presence of mind to innovate and successfully overcome various clinical challenges that come up during such complicated surgeries to save the infant’s life. This success is once again a testament to the quality of care and clinical excellence at Apollo Hospitals that is at par with the best in the world!”

Patient’s testimonial

The parents expressed their gratitude towards the entire team of Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai for giving a new lease of life to their baby.