New Lease of Life for 7-Month-Old Girl With Critical Heart Disease

A four-hour-long operation was successfully preformed by doctors to set right a severe congenital anomaly that had threatened the life of a seven-month-old girl.

A four-hour-long operation was successfully preformed by doctors at the Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) to set right a severe congenital anomaly that had threatened the life of a seven-month-old girl. //

Doctors said only a few centres in north India could perform this critical procedure.

Congenital Heart Disease – Septal Defects
Heart diseases that are present at birth are called “ Congenital heart diseases”.

‘The JNMC is the only centre in western Uttar Pradesh with facilities for complex cardiac surgeries of children. ’

Mahira, daughter of Salman, a resident of Aligarh's Jawan area, owes her life to the leader of the team, cardiothoracic surgeon Mohammad Hanif Beg, who is also the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Pro Vice Chancellor.

Since one of the heart chambers of the infant was not developed and there was a hole in her heart, it resulted in the mixing of pure and impure blood, the doctors said on Saturday, adding that the child suffered blue discoloration, rapid and distressed breathing and feeding difficulty among other problems.

For the procedure performed on Friday, blood from the baby's head, neck and arms was routed to her lungs. The girl has now been discharged to live a healthy life, the doctors said.

Test Your Knowledge on Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is a direct consequence of today’s unhealthy lifestyle and food habits, which include a high-fat diet, inadequate exercise and loads of stress. Coronary heart disease is emerging as an epidemic of the modern world, affecting younger individuals and extending to poorer countries as well. Here is a quiz that will test your knowledge on basic terminology used in coronary heart disease.

M. H. Beg said the surgery was done free of cost under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), a government initiative under the National Health Mission.

More than 80 children with heart diseases have benefited from the RBSK programme at JNMC, Uzma Firdaus, Nodal Officer, District Early Intervention Centre, Aligarh said.