Seven-year-old boy undergoes rare heart and kidney surgery

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE: Cardiac surgeon P.S. Seetharama Bhat and cardiologist C.N. Manjunath with Ravi.

BANGALORE: Doctors at the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health here have conducted a rare heart and kidney surgery successfully on a seven-year-old poor boy.

Director of the Jayadeva institute C.N. Manjunath told on Saturday that it was for the first time in the State that a heart and kidney surgery was performed together.

The boy had a malignant tumour in the kidney, which had spread to the heart. The tumour was removed after five hours of surgery.

Ravi, son of Padma of Hoskote in Bangalore Rural district, was first diagnosed at the Kidwai Institute of Oncology as having a Wilm's tumour in the left kidney.

Investigations at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health revealed that the cancer had spread to the heart as well. It was at this stage that the boy was brought to the Jayadeva institute, he said.

While cardiac surgeon P.S. Seetharama Bhat and cardiologist Manjunath conducted the open-heart surgery, paediatric surgeon S. Ramesh removed the left kidney, he said. Dr. Manjunath said that the surgery was done free of cost, thanks to Rs. 35,000 donated by the Badalchand Chordia Trust, and Rs. 65,000 borne by the Jayadeva institute.