Doctors at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals saved a 2-day-old infant by performing a life-saving heart surgery to remove a rare tumor.

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi has performed a rare life-saving heart surgery on a two-day old newborn for removal of a rare tumor. Baby Virin, whose parents are residents of Noida, was born with a rare congenital tumor called Intrapericardial teratoma (arising from the surface of heart) which was detected while he was in his mother’s womb.

The infant’s tumor was detected on a routine ultrasound of his mother at 20 weeks of gestation. It was found to be arising from the surface of his heart and had the potential of impacting growth within the womb. Hence, after the detection, his condition was monitored regularly every week by the means of fetal echocardiogram (to assess the growth of tumor and any effects on the functioning of heart). To reduce the pressure on his heart and carry his mother’s pregnancy to term, excessive amount of fluid surrounding his heart was needed to be removed once.

At birth, the baby weighed 3.2 kg but had trouble in breathing. He was immediately intubated and put on a ventilator. A CT Angio was conducted, and showed a 7 cm across, lobulated giant intrapericardial tumor that was pushing the heart to the left and compressing the lung.

Dr. Rajesh Sharma, Senior Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi said, “The baby’s condition was precarious, and we planned to operate on him immediately. On day 2 after birth, we successfully removed the tumor which was larger than the heart and was found to be attached to the surface of heart, displacing the heart to the left. It had an attachment to the aorta and the right AV groove. Since tumor manipulation was causing a fall in the blood pressure, and due to its proximity to the right coronary artery, the removal of the tumor was accomplished by putting the baby on the heart-lung machine, on cardiopulmonary bypass. We managed to remove the tumor in one piece.”

Dr. Ashutosh Marwah, Consultant Surgeon, Pediatric Cardiology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi said, “Fortunately there have been no significant deleterious effects of the tumor on the functioning of lungs or heart. Though the removal of tumor is supposed to be curative in most cases, due to the rarity of the diagnosis, the baby will need regular follow-ups with tumor marker levels and regular echocardiographic examinations in the future. For now, the baby has shown good recovery and has been discharged.”

An intrapericardial teratoma arising from the heart is an exceedingly rare tumor of the fetus and the newborn. A major concern with such tumors during pregnancy is the life-threatening pressure that the tumor puts on the fetus’ heart and lungs.

The baby has been discharged and is normal and healthy.