Permanent Pacemaker Implanted In Newborn Baby's Heart

Delhi doctors have implanted a permanent pacemaker in a newborn with complete congenital heart block. It is a rare disorder and occurs in 1 in 20,000 births.

Doctors at a Delhi hospital implanted a permanent pacemaker in a pre-term baby born with a complete congenital heart block.

At the time of birth, baby Bhavishya's heart was beating 40 times a minute compared to 140-160 times a minute of a healthy newborn.

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‘Delhi doctors have implanted a permanent pacemaker in a newborn with complete congenital heart block. It is a rare disorder and occurs in 1 in 20,000 births.’

The surgery was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Gaurav Kumar, Director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, and Dr. Sushil Azad, Principal Consultant Pediatric Cardiology.

Babies with complete congenital heart block are born with low birth weight, poor heart function, and poor survival chance. In these babies, procedures such as anesthesia and surgery pose an increased risk.

Dr. Gaurav Kumar said, "It was late evening when we received a call from another hospital regarding baby Bhavishya. We knew that the baby was in real danger and made immediate arrangements for safe transfer of the baby to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute."

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He added, "On arrival, the baby was found to have a very poor heart and lung function. The case was technically challenging as the baby was preterm and low birth weight and operating upon a newborn always involves a lot of associated risks. We decided to go ahead with the surgery at night itself because it was unlikely the baby would have survived till morning."

Treating a pre-term baby suffering from complete congenital heart block involves risk related to maintaining complete care of other vital organs and protecting the infants from infections during COVID-19 pandemic.

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Congenital Heart Block