Udupi: Kasturba Hospital treats infant with rare heart disease

Udupi: A born baby with a very rare and serious defect in the heart called Transposition of Great Arteries(TGS) was diagnosed recently by the team of Kasturba Hospital Doctors in Udupi under the leadership of Dr. Arvind Bishnoi(consultant Cardiac Surgeon and Associate Professor at the dept of Cardio Vascular Thoracic Surgery), where doctors tried their best and yielded out the successful result and gave a baby new lease of life. One day old baby was brought into the unit of Kasturba Hospital. The baby had difficulty in breathing and a rapid heart rate. The doctors referred the baby for further treatment. The baby was under a condition which is Medically known as Transposition of Great Arteries(TGA). TGA is a congenital (present at birth) heart defect. Due to abnormal development of the fetal heart during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, the large vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, and to the body are improperly connected. This complicated surgery was well taken care at the sophisticated neonatal ICU under the unit of Dr Leslie Lewis at Kasturba Hospital. This was the very first kind of operation carried out at this region. Earlier, these types of cases were referred to Bangaluru for surgical intervention, said Dr Arvind. The entire cost of the fetal surgery is being paid through Rashtriya Bala Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) scheme of the central government. The baby has recovered and is ready for discharge. The parents of the baby thanked everyone in the surgical team for successfully saving their baby.