A STITCH IN TIME CAN SAVE YOUR BABY'S HEART & LIFE

WHEN four-day-old Gourav refused to be breastfed, sweated heavily while suckling and faced severe breathing trouble, his parents feared something was terribly wrong. Worried, they rushed him to a district government hospital where an initial clinical examination detected cardiac issues with low oxygen saturation. As the hospital had no facility to diagnose the condition, his parents immediately shifted him to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar where an echocardiogram confirmed a large a hole in the wall separating the heart's two lower chambers (ventricular septal defect (VSD)) with obstruction in pulmonary artery. Doctors said the child was born with the hole in his heart. The diagnosis shocked the young couple as they recalled nothing unusual had come up during pregnancy.

- HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @Bhubaneswar

Gourav was stabilised with medication and the following day cardiovascular surgeons conducted a corrective surgery. The hole was closed and the obstruction in the pulmonary artery removed, leaving the child with no more breathing problems.

The child is fine now and doing everything that other kids of his age used to do, senior cardiothoracic vascular surgeon Dr Sangram Keshari Behera, who conducted the surgery, said. "The condition is generally present at birth with mild to severe symptoms and can turn fatal if immediate treatment is not given. This is not an isolated case but a common arc for many Indian infants born with a hole in the heart which is referred to as congenital heart disease (CHD)," he said.

According to cardiologists, a hole in the heart is a type of CHD, a problem with the heart's structure that is present at birth. Congenital heart defects change the normal flow of blood through the heart, thus endangering the life of the baby.

Growing public health concern

CHD is the commonest of all congenital lesions accounting for around 28% of all congenital birth defects. It is considered to be the most common type of heart disease among children. The incidence of congenital heart disease is approximately 8-10 per 1,000 live births, with a higher rate in stillbirth, spontaneous abortion and prematurity.

As per a recent study conducted by a team of doctors of Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS), Karnataka, and published in European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, CHD is considered one of the leading cause of neonatal mortality, and 10% of the current infant mortality in the country is linked to the disease.