Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi successfully performed Paediatric Cardiac surgery on two critical patients who travelled from another state, amidst COVID-19 restrictions.

As the world remains engulfed with the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, other health conditions that need immediate medical attention have taken a toll. It has been observed that people are delaying their surgeries owing to the fear of visiting a hospital and contracting the infection. There is no health condition irrespective of the age group that can be ignored or the treatment for which can be put on hold. More so in the case of infants who are born with congenital heart diseases.

Dr Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Interventional Cardiology at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi said, “Congenital heart diseases can be life-threatening for children especially when the treatment is delayed. If not detected and simultaneously treated at birth, the child develops symptoms like shortness of breath, heart murmurs, recurrent respiratory and lung infections. This not only impacts the quality of life of the child but also affects the child’s development and limits life expectancy.”

Recently, a three-day old infant born in Uttar Pradesh was referred to Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi, post developing breathing trouble right after birth. Understanding the urgency and criticality of the situation Apollo Hospitals arranged for the baby’s travel to Delhi immediately. The child travelled for 17 hours on ventilator in an ambulance and was successfully operated at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. Post-surgery within 10 days of neonatal intensive care, the baby showed immense improvement and was discharged. Lead surgeon for the procedure, Dr Muthu said, “This case was specifically challenging as we had lost a lot of time in getting the baby here and beginning his treatment. The surgery was a high-risk procedure owing to the infant’s low birth weight (1.5 kgs). This was the lowest weighing child at 1.5kgs, to have ever gone through such a complex cardiac procedure at this hospital. The timely treatment of the kid saved him from losing his life”.

Similarly, was the case of a seven-year-old child, hailing from Ludhiana, who was born with a hole in her heart leading to very high pressure in the lungs (a large ventricular septal defect and severe pulmonary hypertension). The child’s surgery had been delayed for a few years owing to financial limitations of the family. Consequently, she was brought into Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi in an emergency situation when episodes of pneumonia and breathlessness worsened. Amidst, stringent travel and lockdown rules, arrangements were made for the child’s transportation to Delhi, where she was operated successfully.