Amidst COVID 19 fear & imposed restrictions on travel – emergency services worst hit, pediatric cardiac surgeries take a toll

Three days old Infant travels 17 hours on ventilator to get admitted to NICU carefor a cardiac procedure

New Delhi: As the world remains engulfed with the fear of coronavirus pandemic, other health conditions that need immediate medical attention have taken a toll.

It has been observed that people are delaying their surgeries owing to the fear of visiting a hospital and contracting the infection.There is no health condition irrespective of the age group that can be ignored or the treatment for which can be put on hold. More so in the case of infants who are born with congenital heart diseases.

Dr Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Interventional Cardiology at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said, “Congenital heart diseases can be life- threatening for children especially when the treatment is delayed. If not detected and simultaneously treated at birth, the child develops symptoms like shortness of breath, heart murmurs, recurrent respiratory and lung infections. This not only impacts the quality of life of the child but also affects the child development and limits life expectancy.”

In a recent turn of events, a three-day old infant born in UP was referred to Indraprastha Apollo in Delhi, post developing breathing trouble right after birth. Understanding the urgency and criticality of the situation Apollo Hospitals arranged for the baby’s travel to Delhi immediately.

The child travelled for 17 hours on ventilator in an ambulance and was successfully operated at Apollo Hospitals. Post-surgery within 10 days of neonatal intensive care the baby showed immense improvement and was discharged.

Lead surgeon for the procedure, Dr Muthusaid,“This case was specifically challenging as we had lost a lot of time in getting the baby here and beginning his treatment. The surgery was a high-risk procedure owing to the infant’s low birth weight (1.5 kgs).

This was the lowest weighing child at 1.5kgs, to have ever gone through such a complex cardiac procedure at this hospital. The timely treatment of the kid saved him/her from losing his/her life”.

Similarly,was the case of a seven-year-old child, hailing from Ludhiana, who was born with a hole in her heart leading to very high pressure in the lungs (a large ventricular septal defect and severe pulmonary hypertension).

The child’s surgery had been delayed for a few years owing to financial limitations of the family. Consequently, she was brought into Indraprastha Apollo hospital in an emergency situation when episodes of pneumonia and breathlessness worsened.

Amidst, stringent travel and lockdown rules, arrangements were made for the child’s transportation to Delhi, where she was operated successfully. In situations like this, apart from the surgery itself, travel approvals and organizing finances from various NGO’s becomes a larger challenge for the hospital, as every minute wasted can be life threatening for the patient. 

Late surgical interventions in children with congenital heart disease can result into several morbidities and mortality. Hence delaying the procedures only puts the patient’s life at a greater risk, where surgical interventions at a later stage might not be successful.