Newborn undergoes open heart surgery

A 16-day-old baby boy from Odisha underwent open heart surgery at CARE Hospitals at Banjara Hills here. The newborn, who suffered from a rare defect called ‘transposition of great arteries’, was broug

A 16-day-old baby boy from Odisha underwent open heart surgery at CARE Hospitals at Banjara Hills here. The newborn, who suffered from a rare defect called ‘transposition of great arteries’, was brought in an ambulance which travelled for 30 hours straight during lockdown in the two States. Doctors performed the life-saving surgery for four hours. Parents of the baby consulted paediatricians in Odisha who referred them to Tapan K. Dash, head of the Department of Care Children’s Heart Institute. After speaking to him, the parents travelled in an ambulance with the baby boy, who was detected with only 50% oxygen saturation. Doctors performed the surgery on June 14. “The surgery was complicated and we not only had to connect the heart to original structures but also the whole body,” said Dr Dash. The baby has recovered and his parents took him home last Saturday.