Karthik and Kousalya were very worried that their two-and-half month old baby girl, Yazhini, was catching frequent cough and cold and not gaining weight. Their family physician suspected that there could be a heart problem and advised them to go to a higher centre. Karthik could think only of bringing his child to PSG hospitals, Coimbatore as his father had been previously treated successfully for an ailment here.
Dr. Vinoth Doraiswamy, Senior Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist, PSG Hospitals said, “When the baby was brought to us, she had symptoms of heart failure – she did not gain adequate weight and had breathing difficulty & excessive sweating during breastfeeding which are important warning signs of possible underlying heart disease.”
Using echocardiography, he diagnosed the baby to have a large Ventricular Septal Defect – a major cardiac condition. This is a congenital heart defect which develops when the baby is in his/her mother’s womb. It is an abnormal hole between the heart’s two lower pumping chambers. Dr. Vinoth advised open heart surgery to be done at the earliest.
Dr. C. Ananthanarayanan is a Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon at PSG Hospitals, said “The procedure was a complex one considering the child’s weight (3kg) and tender age. Fixing a hole inside the heart is a technically demanding job. During surgery, the patient is connected to the cardiopulmonary bypass machine which takes over the function of the heart and lungs temporarily. This enables the surgeon to safely stop and open the heart and repair the defect”.
Dr. Ananthanarayanan and his team operated the child successfully and she had an uneventful recovery. The child was discharged just seven days after surgery. He said that it was very satisfying to see a healthy child and happy parents on discharge. Now Yazhini can have a normal life like any other child and can be whatever she wants.
Karthik and Kousalya said that their firm faith in PSG Hospitals was the only reason they decided to have treatment here. They were happy that their girl is now hale and hearty to go home. They also said that the team informed them of the child’s progress frequently and took care of her as if she was their own child. They wished that all parents with children having such heart ailments should visit the hospital in time and not delay.
Dr. Vinoth and Dr. Ananthanarayanan emphasized that the timely arrival of Yazhini to their hospital paved way for this success. Heart surgeries have evolved tremendously over the past 60 years and all congenital heart diseases can be treated safely in the current era. Any heart related ailment can be treated in Coimbatore itself, and better medical care can be given if the patient is brought on time. They also added that, it is of great importance that children with such heart ailments should be treated on time as missing this window of opportunity will greatly reduce the benefits of surgery. Too much delay can even make the child inoperable.