2-Day-Old Baby With Rare Heart Condition Undergoes Challenging Surgery

A 2-day-old baby, who was suffering from a rare heart condition that is generally seen among adults, underwent a successful operation at a leading hospital in India.

The authorities said Monday the newborn was suffering from valvular aortic stenosis (narrow heart valve). The baby boy is not the first infant to have undergone the surgery, but the condition is "rare in newborns" since it is mainly age-related, making it "one of the first cases in India" affecting a 2-day-old child, the hospital in New Delhi said, according to One India.

A team of cardiologists at BLK–Max Super Speciality Hospital saved the newborn's life. The procedure had to be carried out with precision, as valvular aortic stenosis is an extremely rare condition in a pediatric heart.

“The neonate was referred to us with the diagnosis of mild aortic valve stenosis in 'shock' (poor respiratory effort with poor perfusion of the body with decreased urine output). He was gasping for breath with poor perfusion of the body," Subhash Chandra, Chairman and HOD-Cardiology, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital said, Daiji World reported, citing IANS News.

After an examination, it was found the baby's breathing was fast with signs of shock and decreased urine output. An echocardiogram conducted on the baby showed a deformed aortic valve with critical narrowing, and very poor heart pumping.

Doctors consulted among themselves, and told the family about the procedure and went ahead with it immediately.

“The newborn was put on ventilator support through intubation and taken to the cath lab with the plan of ballooning of the critically constricted valve. After securing the desired vessel in his thigh, we faced extreme difficulty in crossing the valve but after several attempts, we managed to do so," Gaurav Agrawal, senior consultant of interventional pediatric cardiology at the hospital, told media outlets while elaborating on the procedure, which was done on June 17.

Aortic stenosis is relatively uncommon, affecting about six in every 1,000 babies born, occurring more often in boys, a hospital spokesperson said.

"Post the procedure, the baby was shifted to NICU for monitoring, however, there was still no pulse in his left leg. We decided to continue the patient on medicines and fortunately, after around three hours, his pulse returned. We extubated the baby the next day as he was showing stable vitals. He was discharged the very next day with a well-opened narrow valve and near-normal pumping of the heart," Chandra added.