AIIMS doctors perform surgery on grape size heart of foetus in 90 seconds; PM Modi lauds

Dr Mandaviya had tweeted, “I congratulate the team of doctors of @AIIMS_NewDelhi for performing a successful rare procedure on grape size heart of a foetus in 90 seconds. My prayers for the well-being of the baby and the mother.”

In this case, a 28-year-old pregnant patient was admitted to the hospital with three previous miscarriages. After knowing about the current pregnancy and the child’s heart condition, the parents consented to the surgery.

“A team of interventional cardiologists along with doctors from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS performed the procedure termed balloon dilation in the obstructed valve of the heart. Under the procedure which was performed under the guidance of ultrasound, a needle was inserted in the heart of the foetus and then using a balloon catheter, the obstructed valve was unclogged,” a senior doctor said, reported PTI.

“The whole procedure had to be done very swiftly. It was very challenging. We managed to do it in around one-and-half minutes,” the doctor said. “With this reshaping procedure, hopefully, the foetus’ heart will develop better. Both the foetus and the mother are stable and are being monitored closely,” the doctor added.

What is balloon dilation?

Calling it technically challenging, Dr Subhendu Mohanty, interventional cardiologist, Sharda Hospital, Noida said that balloon valve dilatation is a cardiac catheterisation procedure where a catheter or a tube is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin and guided to the inside of the heart. “This is a usual balloon valve dilatation that is fine in adults and children. In this case, it had been done in a baby in the mother’s womb which is technically challenging as the foetus will be very small with chances of it moving also,” elucidated Dr Mohanty.

Cardiologist Dr Pankaj Ramesh Batra (Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre) said that the foetus could be saved because of the correct intervention at the right time. “A fetal echo can detect such abnormalities during routine antenatal checkups. Diagnosis and intervention at the correct time make all the difference,” Dr Batra said.

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