Two weeks following the groundbreaking surgical procedure in the “rarest of the rare heart defect”, in which the protruding heart was put back in the chest cavity, the infant succumbed to multiple organ failure, hospital authorities said.
Dr A.K. Bisoi, cardiologist and additional professor at the cardiothoracic and vascular
surgery department of AIIMS, who operated upon the baby, stated that after the surgery on Sept. 3, the child was recovering well. He was fed and shifted to the ICU in a stable but critical condition.
"In the past 48 hours, the baby's condition deteriorated as the blood infection increased. He was brought here with a very high infection load and we carried out two blood transfusions before the surgery in order to stabilise him,'' added Dr Bisoi.
He further said, "But high blood infection resulted in pneumonia. Moreover, the baby was immunodeficient as he didn't have the thymus gland. These factors clubbed together resulted in his death.”
The surgical procedure
The child was brought to the institute in unhygienic conditions, wrapped in an unclean cloth and exposed to infection from the outside elements, during his tedious train journey from Bihar.
Although the odds of survival were stacked against the baby, the doctors operated for more than three hours to create a new cavity between his chest and the abdomen. They then slowly rotated the heart and pushed it into the new space in his body.
Following the success of the surgery, the main task was to keep the child alive since his condition was not favorable due to his vulnerable immune system and the trauma he had undergone.
New medical record achieved, claim AIIMS doctors
The doctors are happy that the baby has established a medical record in India by surviving nearly a fortnight after surgery of a rare malformation.
"We created a record at every stage of the baby's treatment process. We kept him alive for nine days without surgery and the heart was fixed in the body in one go. Moreover, the surgery was carried out on a beating heart. And despite being immuno-compromised, the baby survived for nearly a fortnight. All these are big achievements,'' said Dr Bisoi.
Ectopia Cordis
Ectopia Cordis, a rare congenital defect, occurs in about five to nine cases in one million live births. The malformation can be detected within 3-5 weeks of pregnancy through ultrasound and foetal echo cardiogram.
The mortality rate is extremely high in such cases.
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