A team of doctors from Andhra have performed rare and complicated heart surgery on an 18-day-old baby to save its life. The statement about the heart surgery was confirmed by Dr. PV Rama Rao, head of Children’s Services.

During a press meet, Dr. Rao said that the underweight baby was suffering from a complex heart disease known as ‘Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage’ (TAPVD), caused by the abnormal placement of the blood vessels that lead to the heart. The child was, in fact, suffering from a complex variety of TAPVD.

In TAPVD, the oxygen-enriched blood does not return from the lungs into the left atrium. Instead, the blood goes to the right side of the heart, where it mixes with the deoxygenated blood. This causes a shortage of oxygen in the baby’s body. For the baby to survive, a procedure is performed where the surgeons drill a hole between the left and the right atrium that lets both the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix and go to the left side of the heart, where it is pumped to the rest of the body. This condition always requires a surgery for the child to survive, that’s why it’s called a critical congenital heart defect.

Despite the obvious risks of performing the complicated surgery on the 18-day old, doctors took the courageous step to save the child’s life. The operation was a success nevertheless, and the child is responding well to the treatment. Dr. Rao disclosed that the child is ready to be discharged after recuperation.

The doctors have together performed about 27 complex TAPVD cardiac surgeries so far. According to Dr. Rao, the team specialises in neonatology department at the Andhra Hospital. The team revealed that around 7,000 children are born with complex heart diseases every year and 200 of them undergo surgeries. The reasons for heart diseases in newborns are caused by complications during the mother’s pregnancy. These include infections, malnutrition, diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 04:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).