3 difficult cardiac procedures performed in Ludhiana Mediways Hospital

Ludhiana, August 5, 2014: Three difficult cardiac procedures in children were performed successfully in a single day in Ludhiana Mediways Hospital by Dr Navdeep Singh, Senior Consultant in Pediatric and Foetal Cardiology.
The first case was of a 1 year old girl-child weighing only 6 kg, who was suffering from a large Patent Ductus Arteriosus. This is a defect where there is an extra connection between the two great arteries of the heart resulting in repeated attacks of pneumonia and poor weight gain in the child. The defect was so large that it needed closing by a button like device measuring 10mm x 8mm after smaller devices failed to close the defect. It is a unique procedure because successful closure of a defect this large in size, in a child weighing so less, has perhaps not been reported in the region.
The second case was also of a girl-child aged 10 years who had two separate heart problems. One of the valves of the great arteries of the heart, the pulmonary valve, was narrow and its leaflets were attached to a fibrous ring like structure located just above it. Special balloons were used to not only relieve the obstruction at the valve level, but also to break the attachment of the tethered leaflets to the structure above the valve. After achieving this, the other lesion which was a hole in the upper chambers of the heart, known as an Atrial Septal Defect was also closed successfully.
According to Dr Navdeep Singh, both these procedures were carried out under sedation only without general anaesthesia, and the children were conscious within minutes of completion of the procedures. These children can be discharged just one day after the procedure.
Successful intervention ensures avoidance of major cardiac surgeries in these girls requiring several days of hospital stay and a potentially ungainly scar on the chest.
This information was given at a press conference. Among others, Gurmeet Singh Kular, Managing Director, Ludhiana Mediways P Ltd, was present on the occasion.