Kolkata: 08/05/26 A 9-month-old infant from Bangladesh with two holes in the heart underwent open heart surgery under the expertise of Dr Kaushik Mukherjee, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Manipal Hospital Dhakuria . At the age of 6-months Abdullah Rayak weighed only 5Kgs as against the appropriate weight of 8-10kgs, he had frequented with bouts of pneumonia, and signs of breathlessness. The surgery gave the infant a new lease of life.
Baby Abdullah Rayak’s journey was similar to any other infant, his parents took him for regular dosage of vaccination when, and upon the visit, the doctor mentioned his parents that there was an abrupt noise from his heart. Baby Abdullah was advised for an echo that detected two holes in the heart. Without any time lapse, Md.Jubar Islam, father of Abdullah travelled to India. The family had previous association with Manipal Hospital Dhakuria where Islam’s father had received a treatment in the past.
Baby Abdullah was advised for a conservative follow up for the next three months with some medications but unfortunately the baby had frequent hospitalization in Bangladesh due to pneumonia and his weight had a slight increase to 6kgs only, thus the doctors advised coming to India and open-heart surgery was done.
Dr Kaushik Mukherjee, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, said, “At 9-months it is quite challenging to conduct open heart surgery as it poses high risk of infections. However, the infant responded well to the surgery, he was removed from the ventilator the same day and could be discharged post 4 days of surgery. Any form of breathlessness, inappropriate weight and frequent pneumonia in infants should not be ignored as they are visible signs of a severe heart problem. Timely intervention and surgery led the infant recover faster and is doing well now.” The boy would come to further follow ups, but he would be leading a normal life once he grows up, added, Dr Mukherjee.
In another case a 6-year-old boy came to Manipal Hospital Dhakuria a hole in his heart — a VSD (ventricular septal defect) that needed closing.
Dr Kaushik Mukherjee, mentioned, “We chose Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) for the child since MICS requires no big cut down the chest, the scar heals faster and the recovery rate is faster. A small 4 cm incision on the side was done, and through that keyhole, we repaired his heart.”
He boy was discharged on the fourth day post the procedure.
The importance of MICS is that is caused lesser pain for a 6-year-old to handle, less bleeding, lower infection risk and faster return to school, to playgrounds and normal life.