Coimbatore hospital performs open-heart surgery on 1.7-kg premature baby
Surgeons at Kovai Medical Center and Hospital successfully performed a complex arterial switch operation on a 1.7-kg premature baby born with a congenital heart defect. The hospital covered the full cost of the life-saving procedure for the family, and the infant is currently recovering well.
Why it matters
This case highlights advancements in neonatal cardiac surgery and the critical role of charitable medical care in providing life-saving interventions for low-income families.
A team at the Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) has performed an arterial switch operation on a 1.7-kg premature baby, according to a press release issued by the hospital.
The girl baby, one of the twins, was born at 33 weeks and diagnosed before birth with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), a congenital heart defect in which the major arteries are connected to the wrong chambers of the heart.
Delivered by Caesarean section at KMCH, her oxygen saturation declined in the days following birth, necessitating surgery, the release said.
The arterial switch operation involved reconnecting the major arteries and transferring the coronary arteries. It lasted about eight hours, including 233 minutes of cardiopulmonary bypass and 130 minutes of aortic cross-clamping.
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