Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 8: A two-day-old blue baby, weighing 2.3 kg, admitted to the NICU at AJ Hospital and Research Centre in January, was diagnosed with transposition of great arteries in the 5th month of pregnancy.

The diagnosis was done when a foetal echo was performed by Dr Prem Alva, children's heart specialist at AJ Hospital.

This is a condition where the two major blood vessels leaving the heart are connected to the wrong chambers of the heart. Thus the blood containing oxygen which is required to nourish the body goes back into the lungs instead, requiring urgent surgery.

Even though this condition accounts for approximately 5% of all children born with heart diseases, it is one of the few conditions that require surgery immediately after birth.

The parents were counseled by Dr Gourav S Shetty, children's heart surgeon at AJ Hospital who has performed more than 200 surgeries on children over a period of two years in AJ Hospital. He explained to them why this procedure was complex and needed expertise. It was carried out on a heart smaller than an egg, the 2 major arteries smaller than a little finger and the vessels supplying blood to the heart smaller than ball point refill, all these abnormally coming from the heart needed to be corrected.

After the successful surgery by Dr Gourav S Shetty and his team, Dr Gururaj Tantry, chief cardiac anesthetist and intensivist, Dr Suhas, anesthetist and his team successfully managed the baby in ITU.

The baby was discharged on the 7th day from hospital. Follow up was done a week later with a healthy baby and very happy parents.

AJ Hospital and Research Centre is the only Centre in the coastal region which has the expertise to conduct such complex surgeries even on newborns.