Pakistani Child With a Rare Heart Disease Successfully Operated in Delhi

A Pakistani child having a rare type of heart disease since birth was successfully treated in Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi.

A 14-month old baby from Pakistan born with an unusual heart disease successfully underwent a heart surgery in Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi.

According to medical experts from the hospital, the patient's blood receiving chamber on the left side of the heart (left atrium) was hugely dilated and was four times larger than the expected size (called Giant Left Atrium or GLA), which was pressing on the nearby airway structures in the chest.

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

‘Giant Left Atrium (GLA) in infants is a rare condition where the left atrium increases in size and causes complications by obstructing the adjacent organs.’

Giant Left Atrium (GLA) is a rare condition in pediatric population but carries a significant mortality risk. When left atrium increases in size, it causes complications by compressing adjacent structures such as food pipe, spine, pulmonary vessels. These complications are resolved after surgery.

"Also, there was a large hole between the lower chambers of heart (called ventricular septal defect) and the left-sided valve was leaking," said Neeraj Aggarwal, Pediatric Cardiologist at the hospital.

When the patient was brought to the hospital, she weighed only 6.5 kg and faced troubles in feeding properly. The child was having recurrent chest infections and every crawling movement was interrupted due to breathlessness.

Cyanotic Heart Disease - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Cyanotic heart disease is a group of congenital heart defects which occurs due to deoxygenated blood bypassing the lungs and entering the systemic circulation.

"It was a complex and challenging surgery because very few cases of GLA have been reported in children below two years. We operated the child in single stage open heart surgery where the hole was closed, valve was repaired and the GLA was reduced in size," Raja Joshi, Chairman, Pediatric Cardiac Surgery (PCS) said.

Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) - Causes, Risk factors, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Rheumatic heart disease is a sequelae of rheumatic fever that affects heart valves. Rheumatic fever occurs after an episode of strep throat or sore throat due to group A beta hemolytic streptococci.

Source-IANS

Coronary Heart Disease - Causes, Symptoms, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Tretment
In coronary heart disease, blood is unable to flow through blocked arteries. The main symptom is chest pain or angina. Treatment is with medications or surgery.