Rare Heart Procedure Conducted On One-day-old at Manipal Hospital

A team of interventional cardiologists at Manipal Heart Foundation has performed a rare procedure called Balloon Valvuloplasty on a one-day-old baby.

During the routine ultrasound examination at the time of pregnancy, the patient's baby was diagnosed with a critical narrowing of aortic valve (Critical Aortic Stenosis). After the parents learnt of the complexity, the baby was brought at Manipal Hospital. The baby's heart condition was poor, had breathing difficulty and his blood pressure was not recordable. He was quickly admitted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and was put on mechanical ventilator. He had continuous convulsions due to the poor heart condition, which was managed medically.

On the second day, Dr Anand Shenoy, Interventional Cardiologist, Manipal Heart Foundation, decided to conduct a procedure called balloon valvuloplasty to save the baby's life.

"In this procedure, the aortic valve was opened with a balloon and we achieved excellent procedure results," says Dr Shenoy. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, the baby's clinical condition drastically improved. BP was normal, ventilator taken off, and the heart function improved drastically. "He was discharged after seven days in a stable condition," Dr Shenoy adds.

Both surgery and balloon procedure can be done for such cardiac conditions. Balloon procedure carries very high risk, but this procedure was the only way to save the child. "This procedure is performed usually when the child is at least one-week-old. I must admit it was a difficult case, as the mortality risk was around 60 per cent," says Dr Anand.