- Four and half month old Sudanese baby suffered from a congenital heart defect, namely, transposition of the great arteries (TGA).
- Due to lack of proper treatment options in Sudan he was brought to BLK Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, where he underwent an Atrial Switch or Senning's Operation.
- An abnormal development of the foetal heart during the first eight weeks of pregnancy leads to TGA.
- In this congenital condition the large vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs and other parts of the body are wrongly connected resulting of progressive weakness in the left ventricle.
- In such cases, palliative or corrective surgery is required within first few weeks post the baby's birth to dodge death.
- Dr. Sushant Srivastava, Director of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at the hospital explained that in the procedure three incisions were made: two to open the right and left atria and one to divide the atrial septum.
- Operated through mid sternotomy with the assistance of a heart lung machine, the three incisions were sutured in a way so that the blood of the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava is diverted into the left ventricle and the the pulmonary artery and oxygenated pulmonary venous blood is diverted into the right ventricle and aorta.
- Post surgery a smooth recovery of the baby boy was noted during observation.
- He was discharged on the eighth day sfter surgery.
Source: BLK Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi