Mother, child saved after complex heart surgery

Chennai, Oct 12 (UNI) In what is claimed to be a first in Indian medical history, a city hospital has performed a complex open heart surgery on a pregnant woman and managed to save the lives of both mother and the child.

Twenty three-year-old Anita, who was pregnant with her first child and expected to deliver in ten days, was referred to Harvey Super Specialities Hospital from Puducherry on September 24 with severe breathlessness and with a prognosis that she and the child might die.

The woman was found to be in severe respiratory distress with term pregnancy and severely hypoxic (low oxygen levels). She was diagnosed with ballooning of the ascending aorta with severe leak of the aortic valve, causing fluid in the lungs.

A high-risk caesarian operation was performed by a team of doctors to save the baby first. Following this, a rare complex operation was performed on Anita as she went in for recurring congestion of the lung after the delivery.

The six-hour open heart surgery, called 'aortic root remodelling with replacement of ascending aorta by a valve sparing procedure,' was perfomed by a team of doctors led by Chief Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon M P Naresh Kumar.

The surgery involved replacing the aneurismal (ballooned out) ascending aorta with a dacron prosthesis (artificial blood vessel), conserving the patient's own aortic valve and coronary arteries.

Dr Kumar said management of heart disease in young pregnant women was one of the greatest medical challenges, as pregnancy imposed over 200 per cent demand on the heart, more than any other physiological situation.

'This kind of operation in this situation has not been reported in Medical history. We are very happy that the mother and child are saved and doing well now,' he said.

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