Goa: Doctors save life of 2-month old, perform rare cardiac surgery

Doctors at Goa Medical College and Hospital conducted a vital surgery to close a hole between two main blood vessels leading to the heart, giving a nine-month-old baby a fresh lease of life.

The newborn girl was born with patent ductus arteriosus, a congenital cardiac defect, and she was taken to GMC with heart failure and pneumonia. According to doctors at the cardiology department, open-heart surgery is normally used to correct the problem, but due to the danger, cardiologists chose a non-invasive method called percutaneous device closure.

The rare feat was performed by the acting head of the cardiology department, Dr Manjunath Desai, along with Parab and consultant cardiologist Dr Amar Prabhudesai.

“We have successfully managed to do the procedure and close the hole,” said associate professor of cardiology Dr Michelle Viegas Parab. “The child is doing well now.”

GMC dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar said that the child had been diagnosed with a large opening in her heart before delivery.

The usual treatment, he said, is open-heart surgery. “What our cardiology department has done is it has considered the child for a closed technique, which is remarkable achievement for GMC and the department. For a poor patient, the procedure would cost around Rs. 2.5-3 lakh, but it was done totally free at GMC,” Bandekar said.