A neonate who is only about 15 days old and weighs about 470 grams took birth after a gestation period of 28 weeks at Geetanjali Hospital, Udaipur on 16th May, 2017. The premature tiny toddler was suffering from a very challenging and complex heart disease. He was in a condition in which two major blood vessels of heart – aorta and pulmonary artery were connected. Parents of a neonate Mr. SP Jain and his wife, an Udaipur resident conceived after many years of marriage through IVF procedure. Fortunately she delivered by Lower Segment Caesarean Section procedure but immediately after the birth the baby started having breathing difficulties and then baby was placed in Neonatal Intensive care unit under the expert care of neonatologist Dr. Sunil Jangid of Jeevanta Hospital . Dr. Ramesh Patel a cardiologist of the Geetanjali hospital said that the heart surgery would be the only option as it couldn’t be cured with medicines.
With the permission of the parents, the Jeevanta hospital decided to call Dr. Sanjay Gandhi, a Cardio Vascular and Thoracic Surgeon. Dr. Gandhi has performed similar kind of operation of a neonate weighing 700 gms at Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital and Jaipur’s Cocoon Hospital. Due to timely intervention and immediate assistance from Executive Director Mr Ankit Agarwal of Geetanjali hospital, the surgery was successfully completed with the help of cardiac team at Jeevanta Hospital. Dr. Gandhi took only 30 minutes for the completion which further avoided the complications. The surgery also assured no internal bleeding. It was the baby’s low weight that prompted doctors to operate in NICU only as shifting from one hospital to another could be life threatening.
“It’s really a very difficult procedure because very small and specific instruments are needed to operate on such small children and resuscitate from a complex heart disease,” said Dr. Gandhi.
In the World’s history he has become the lightest child to undergo a PDA corrective operation. “The tiny toddler is recovering well and will grow like normal babies,” the doctors said but the parents are keeping fingers crossed as the infant is still in intensive care.
